BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad (Ryusuke Minami)
by FrogsAteMyGuitar
Summary: She's 17, has multi-colored hair, an obsession with music, a love of guitar, and hated having to move to Japan. No, Ann was not excited about the move, what-so-ever, but like her mom said, it's just their luck Ann's father is a divorce lawyer, but little does she know she's about to run into an old friend, who becomes very much more than just a friend. Ryusuke x OC
1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone, so just so you know, in this story italics mean someone's speaking in English. I hope you enjoy!

* * *

"_Do we have to stay with them?_" You asked as your mom turned the corner.

"_Ann, we've talked about this. It's just my luck your father is a divorce lawyer_." Your mom replied. "_I don't exactly enjoy spending time with my parents but they are family_."

"_I'm aware..._" You said putting your hand on your chin and staring glumly out the window.

"_It's just, the last time I saw grandma she called me a dyke._" You said turning to your mom almost begging her to say: 'Okay sweetie, let's schedule a plane back to America.'

"_Honey, that was 3 years ago... your hair's much longer now anyways._" She replied, squinting at the house numbers.

"_It doesn't matter! She hates everything that has to do with music, she always treats me like I'm a lunat-_"

"_We're here!_" Your mom interrupted. "_Anyway, it's been a long time, people change._"

"_Yeah, I'm sure she has a mohawk and goes to clubs every night_." You said sarcastically. Your mom frowned and went to unpack the trunk. You looked out of the window at the creepy old looking house and saw your grandma peering out of a first floor window.

"Ayako!" Your grandmother said shuffling out of the house with a huge smile.

"Mom! How've you been?" Your mom asked with out-stretched arms.

"I've been grea- OH MY GOD! ANNA! What have you done to yourself?!" You grandmother screamed seeing you get out of the car.

"Nothing." You said like a deer in headlights.

"You look like a mass murderer!" She said eyeing the several piercings, purple and black hair, and ripped jeans you had on.

"Why thank you." You replied sarcastically and went to the trunk to get your things.

You stood in the back area of the school and looked around for some where to eat. '_Japan is so weird_.' You thought to yourself watching everyone eating their food outside, totally relaxed. It had been a few days since you'd moved in with your mom's parents, it was your third day at your new school and so far, you hated every minute of it.

You walked over to a table and sat down and started to play with your food. You weren't really all that hungry but nourishment is always good.

"Hey, can we sit here?" You heard a male voice ask.

"Oh yeah, totally." You replied glancing up at a boy with brown hair and a boy with squinty eyes.

"Thanks." Said the squinty eyed one with a smile.

"It's no problem." You smiled at him and then went back to your food.

"You're Osagawa-Kemph Anna, right?" The one with brown hair asked as he took a bite of his sandwich

"Yeah, how'd you know?" You asked taking a sip of water.

"There's a list of new students in this semester and you're the only one who's 17." He answered with a smile.

"Ooooh, cools. What are your names?"

"I'm Sakurai Yuji and this is Tanaka Yukio." The squinty one said gesturing to Koyuki. "But everyone calls me Saku and him Koyuki."

"Nice meeting you." You smiled and rested your elbows on the table. "You can call me Ann, I don't like Anna anyway."

"Okay." Saku smiled and continued eating.

You had now known Koyuki and Saku for about a week. They were both 15 and it was their first year at your high school and they were really nice. You had been hanging out at lunch and you were really starting to look forward to it. You also found out that they were in a band. At the moment it's about 9AM on a Sunday and you were just waking up.

*Ring ring, ring ring*

You managed to pick up the phone and your groggy voice grunted, "Hello?"

"Uh, hi. It's Koyuki." The voice on the other end said.

"_Yay_! Hey dude, what's up?" You asked smiling into your pillow.

"Well we have a gig tonight and I was wondering if you could come check it out?" He asked hopefully.

"Oh yeah, sure." You replied happily. "Where is it?"

"Awesome! It's at a place called Live House, it starts at 18:00." Koyuki answered sounding excited.

"Killer, I know the place. What's your band called?" You asked rubbing your eyes.

"The band's called BECK." Koyuki stated happily.

"Seriously?" You asked with surprise.

"Yeah, why?" He replied with a question, sounding confused.

"I knew this guy who... never mind." You said shaking your head. "So I'll see you at the club."

"Okay cool, see you there. Bye." You hung up the phone and stretched out on your bed with a smile. You finally got to see Koyuki and Saku's band... awesomeness.

You got to the club about half an hour late because your grandma was making you extremely uncomfortable and you ended up getting into a fight with her, but it was all good because you were just in time to see BECK. You watched as Koyuki and Saku got ready and talked to their band mates. You studied the other three's faces. Your eyes widened recognizing the lead guitarist.

"_Holy fuck! Ryusuke!_"


	2. Chapter 2

You started towards the stage and called Ryusuke's name. He looked around but didn't see you or at least didn't recognize you. Then you stopped in the middle of the crowd as a saddening feeling crept over you.

When he left America he didn't even tell you he just... left. His neighbor was actually the one who told you. It wasn't what you would call leaving on good terms.

Then the lights grew dim and Ryusuke yelled out to his band mates...

"We're starting with _Brainstorm_."

Your jaw dropped as Ryusuke started playing. Both of you had learned guitar at the same time when you were about 9. You had traded tips and had laughing fits when the other attempted to play a song by Jimi Hendrix or Eric Clapton. You both were pretty bad, but you got better as the years went by and now obviously Ryusuke was a master.

You were just getting ready to leave the club when you heard Koyuki's voice from behind you.

"Hey Ann-san, are you leaving already?"

"I don't know, maybe. I'm not sure." You said a bit awkwardly.

"What's wrong?" He asked looking concerned.

"It's seriously nothing." You said smiling. "I'm just super tired."

"Oh, well do you want to meet the rest of the band?" He asked. "Or are you too tired?"

"I'm not sure... maybe later?" You asked feeling really strange.

"Yeah sure, tha-" He replied, but was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"There you are."

"Oh, hey Maho, this is-"

"_ANN! OH MY GOD!_" She shrieked and squeezed you so tightly you could barley breathe. "Oh, sorry."

"It's fine. It's so cool to see you!" You said happily.

"I know! I thought after we left we'd never see you again!"

"So you two know each other?" Saku's voice asked from behind you.

"Yeah, she's Ray's buddy from America."

"Really? I thought he only knew Eddie." Koyuki said confused.

"He's not the most sharing caring guy ever." Maho joked. "Ryusuke's gonna be so stoked to see you."

Before you could reply she grabbed your hand and pulled you to the bar where the other members of Beck were hanging out.

"Hey, who's your friend?" The platinum blond bassist asked.

You watched as Ryusuke's eyes lifted up to meet yours and widened with shock.

"This is Ann." Maho stated grinning at her brother.

"_Annie..._" Ryusuke gasped looking like he got hit with a brick. "_It's been forever._"

"_Yeah._" You said with a small smile.

Taira and Chiba looked to Maho with confused expressions.

"_So... how's life been?_" You asked Ryusuke, looking into your glass.

"_Fine._"

"_That's good..._" You said trying to think of an ice breaker.

"_What brings you over to Japan?_" He asked looking over at his band mates. Maho had put you two in a booth to catch up and said she would punch whoever got up with out talking.

"_Uhh... my parents got a divorce so me and my mom are living with her parents._" You smiled. "_I think my grandma hates me._"

Ryusuke smiled and took a sip from his drink. A sigh escaped from his lips.

"_Listen... I'm sorry for just leaving like that._" He said and took a breath as if he was going to say something else, but you interrupted.

"_Don't be... no hard feelings_." You said looking up at him with a meek smile on the corners of your lips.

He returned the smile and quickly went back to his drink. He stared at the napkin holder searching for something to say.

"_I could've at least called._"

A feeling came over you as your lips cracked into a grin and you started laughing.

"_What?_" He growled glaring at you.

"_We sound like a married couple._" You said now in a fit of giggles.

"_Oh shut up._" He said snickering.

"_I'm sorry._" You said between breaths as your sides began to ache. It was just weird to think of you and your best friend since the diaper ages dating. You each had gone through your own relationships and break ups and would stay up talking about your deepest feelings and regrets. You would have sleep overs where you stayed up all night playing video games, trying not to wake anyone up with your laughter. It was just too funny to stifle.

"_You freak._" He said starting to catch the laughing bug.

"_I can't help it._" You said resting your head on the table not being able to control it. "_Okay, I can't breathe._"

"_Serves you right._" Ryusuke said now just smiling and shaking his head.

You finally managed to control yourself and let out a sigh of relief.

"_You finished?_" Ryusuke asked casually taking a sip of his drink.

"_Yeah, I think so_." You said with a nod. "_Well, now that we're together again, we can pick up from where we left off._"

"_Well if that's that's the case._" Ryusuke said with a pause. "_I believe I was beating your ass at Tony Hawk's Pro Skater._"

"_You thought you were winning but I was about to turn the tables._" You replied grinning.

"_Sure you were_."

A fish jumped up from the pond in the back of the fishing hole and plopped back in.

"What the fuck?! Ryusuke! This bait sucks ass!" Chiba yelled as he sat on a chair by the pond becoming extremely frustrated.

"It's perfectly fine." Ryusuke muttered turning a page in his book.

"You just have to wait." Taira said as a breeze ruffled his hair.

Chiba grimaced and started mumbling to himself.

"So how long have you known Ann?" Saku asked Ryusuke as he sat by Koyuki with a fishing pole in hand.

"Yeah, and how come you never told us about her?" Chiba added with a quizzical expression.

Ryusuke popped a grape into his mouth and began chewing.

"HEY! Are you deaf?!" Chiba yelled looking over at Ryusuke angrily.

"I've known her since I was about 1 or 2 and she never came up."

"What about you and Eddie, wouldn't that include her?" Taira asked calmly watching the water.

Ryusuke shrugged and ate another grape.

"_I'm so tired._" You groaned to your empty room. You yawned and sat down on your bed. You took off your shoes and changed into your pajamas. You then lay down and closed your eyes, but couldn't fall asleep. You rolled over and looked at your guitar leaned up against your desk. You sighed, got up, picked up the blue/black fender guitar and shuffled back to your bed. You lay back down and closed your eyes. You lazily plucked the strings while you lay in the dark.

*Dream flashback*

'_Hey Ray, what's wrong?_' You ask as you walk up to a 14 year old Ryusuke Minami. He sits on a bench, holding his knees to his chest. He looks really pale and like he hasn't been eating. At first he didn't look like he had heard you but then he looks up with a desperate look on his face.

'_She's dead..._' He says shakily looking back at his knees. You look at him in shock.

'_Who is?_'


	3. Chapter 3

'Fresh air!' You thought as you exited the school building. You were so relieved the day was over. You couldn't concentrate since you had barely slept the night before, not to mention you met up with Ryusuke for the first time in 2 years. You yawned and started to make your way to the gate.

"Hey! Ann-san!" You heard Koyuki yell from behind you. You turned to see him jogging up to you smiling.

"Oh hey, what's up?"

"Nothing much, I'm just heading over to Ryusuke's and I was wondering if you wanted to come?" He replied stopping in front of you.

"Oh sure." You responded with a nod.

"Great, it's always nice to have company on the way." Koyuki replied happily.

You smiled. "Oh and, don't take this the wrong way but, don't call me Ann-san, it's kinda... awkward."

"Oh..." He said with a quizzical expression. "Why?

"Well, it sounds weird with my name for one and also because your my friend. In America a friend wouldn't call me _Mrs. Ann, _so it's just weird to me. I mean, if you REALLY want to call me something with an honorific you can call me Ann-chan or whatever." You explained slightly apologetically as you and Koyuki started to Ryusuke's. You looked to him when he didn't answer and saw a smile creep onto his face. You chuckled. "What?"

"Ryusuke asked me the same thing."

"Oh did he now?" You asked starting to smile.

"Yeah and it's fine, just Ann from now on."

"Ryusuke? You home?" Koyuki asked opening the screen door in the front of the house.

"Sup?" You heard Ryusuke's voice ask from the tiny kitchen.

"Nothing much." You said as you entered the house.

"Fuck!" You heard Ryusuke say loudly sounding a bit startled at the same time as you heard a shattering noise.

"You okay in there?" You asked poking your head in to see him looking down at a broken glass.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He said with a little smile as he stepped over the glass with his bare feet. He then took a broom and started cleaning up.

"You should wear shoes, you don't wanna get cuttie on your footie." You said worriedly as you watched him sweep up the glass. He paused and looked back at you with a raised eyebrow.

"What?"

"You always say that." He replied going back to sweeping.

"Well excuse me for caring." You said with a grin.

"Your excused."

You laughed and went to explore Ryusuke's room.

"Don't do anything weird in there!" Ray called after you.

"What am I gonna do? Pee in your bed?" You asked rolling your eyes. Both Koyuki and Ryusuke laughed as you continued to snoop.

"You guys hungry?" Ryusuke asked eyeing the clock which now read 13:16.

"Yeah, I could go for some food." You said as Koyuki nodded.

"Alright." Ryusuke said heading for the fridge. "We have fish and ramen."

"Dude, seriously? That's it?" You asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Okay, I'll have ramen." Koyuki called into the kitchen.

"Two ramen." You added shaking your head.

"Did someone say ramen?!" Chiba's voice yelled enthusiastically. You jumped and spun around.

"Use your fucking inside voice!" You yelled startled.

Chiba laughed and sat down then yelled in your ear, "RAMEN!"

You pushed him and laughed.

"Calm down Chiba, you had ramen 15 minutes ago." Taira said as he sat down next to him. "Where's Saku?"

"He's sick, he got a stomach virus." Koyuki said glumly.

"That's too bad." Ryusuke said from the kitchen.

Koyuki made an agreeing noise and yawned.

"_Wow, it's already 12AM!_" You said, now the only one left.

Ryusuke chuckled. "_Well would you look at that, I need to get up in six hours._"

"_Really? Well I should probably go, don't wanna keep you up._" You said making a goofy face. Ryusuke smiled and glanced at the floor.

"_It's pretty late, are you sure you'll be okay?_" He asked with a caring expression.

"_Yeah, I think I'll be alright._" You replied with an endearing smile.

"_Okay... if you need anything you can call._" He said returning the smile.

"_Thanks, I'll keep that in mind._" You then started putting on your jacket but paused. "_I hate to bring this up but I gotta know... did I do something to make you just, you know, leave?_" Ryusuke looked surprised.

"_No, not at all, I was just kinda... I couldn't bare to tell you_." He said with a bit of a frown. "_I really didn't want to leave but, well, what could I do?_"

"_Yeah, I understand... I just wanted to make sure._" You said with a half hearted smile. Ryusuke sighed and looked at you with the smile you knew so well.

"_It's great to see you again_." He stood and gave you a hug. You squeezed back and smiled into his shoulder.

"_Your hair's fuzzy._" You said and laughed. Ryusuke smiled and shook his head.

You finally got home and snuck upstairs. You took off your shoes and tossed them to the other side of the room. You lay there just thinking about the last couple years of your life. Nothing had been the same since Ryusuke had left. You and Eddie drifted apart almost immediately and you became depressed. You started to fail in school and your parents started to fight. You let out a sigh and looked to your night table. Your eyes fixed on your clock. You watched the minutes go by until it was 01:12, when you finally drifted off to sleep.

*Dream flashback*

'_Who's dead?_' You ask in shock. Ryusuke hadn't been talking to you for the past week... now you knew why.

'_My mom..._' He had a blank stare and he was trying to choke back tears. You didn't know what to say. You just sat down next to him and gave him a hug. '_I'm stuck with him..._'

'_Don't worry, you can stay with me._' You reply rubbing his back.

'_I don't know what to do..._'

*End*

Now I'm skipping a head a month later because I'm too lazy to type everything in between. You had been spending all your free time with Ryusuke and his friends. You had some of the best times of your life when you were with them. You had been to 5 more Beck shows and you listened in on most of their practices. You felt like you and Ryusuke were back to normal friendship wise, but then again, you felt really different around him then with the rest of his friends. You just figured that it was because you knew Ryusuke a lot longer than everyone else and left it at that.

"Dude, my mom's evil!" You said as you opened the screen door to Ryusuke's house. As you stepped inside you saw Taira, Chiba, Saku, and Koyuki watching TV and Ray reading a book.

"Why's that?" Ryusuke asked looking up from his book.

"My grandma gave me her mom's old Kimono." You said plopping down next to Ryusuke.

"How does that make her evil?"

"My mom insists I have to wear it at least indoors for a while so my grandma isn't offended." Ryusuke's expression didn't change. "It's from 1876."

"Are you serious?" Ryusuke laughed. "Fuck, that sucks."

"Yeah, it's pretty much totally disintegrated... a total turn off." You said stretching your legs out in front of you. Chiba started to laugh hysterically.

"My mom once tried to dress me up in a hot pink tuxedo, so I know the feeling." Taira stated looking back at you.

"Sexy mother fucker!" Chiba said rather loudly. This caused you to burst out laughing. Taira laughed and went back to watching TV.

"So how are you?" Saku asked turning from the TV after a minute or so had passed.

"I'm as happy as a pig in shit." You stated with a smile. "And I'm tried... and hungry."

"Me too." Koyuki said putting a hand on his stomach. "I haven't eaten all day."

"Why's that?" Saku looked at Koyuki.

"My mom wasn't feeling well and I can't cook for my life." Koyuki replied sheepishly.

"I just order take-out." Taira said matter-of-factly.

"RAMEN!" Chiba yelled excitedly. You laughed and rested your head on Ryusuke's shoulder.

"I would love some melon rolls." Saku smiled and looked down his tummy. "All this talk of food is getting me hungry."

"I only have ramen and fish." Ryusuke said glancing up from his book.

"How the fuck do you live on that?" You asked tilting your head up to look him in the eyes.

He shrugged with a chuckle. "I live right next to a fishing pond, what do you except?"

"True, true." You smiled and stood up. "I want pizza."

"No ramen?" Chiba asked pouting. You laughed.

"I'm good with pizza." Taira said slowly getting up and stretching.

"Me too." Saku and Koyuki said in unison.

"FINE!" Chiba yelled and jumped up. "Ryusuke! You comin'?"

"Yeah." He replied lazily, chuckling slightly. He folded the page of his book down and got up. "Let's move."


	4. Chapter 4

"Wow it's crowded." Taira commented looking around at the hugely crowded pizza parlor after you all had gotten your pizza. A booth that fit four and a table for two were the only things open.

"Oh perfect!" Chiba said in his usual rowdy voice. "We'll leave you two little lovebirds aloooone."

"Shut up." Ryusuke shook his head and walked to the table. You followed and sat down across from him.

"_So, how are you?_" You asked taking a bite of your plain cheese slice.

"_I'm tired but good_." He nodded and looked up from his pizza. "_How about you?_"

"_Exactly the same._" You sighed. "_I hate my grandma's house, it's so un-cosy. That's why I think my grandpa still hasn't retired, his workplace is more homey._" Ryusuke chuckled and nodded.

"_My dad's house is like that. You can get lost in there._" He said with a smile. You laughed softly.

"_Is that why you don't live there?_" You asked with a slightly more serious face.

"_It might have some thing to do with it but you know._" He replied taking another bite out of his pizza.

"_Yeah._" You nodded and took a sip of sprite after a slight pause.

"_So are things any better between you and your family?_" He asked propping his elbows on the table and placing his chin on his palms.

"_Eh, well my mom's doing what she always does after she stays with her mom for a while._" You said making a face.

"_And what's that?_"

"_It's hard to explain, my grandma like makes her think that she's the only one who's right so that my mom agrees with her on every issue._" You explained with a grimace. "_And my grandpa is no help. He just sits in a car shop all day and then sleeps when he comes home._"

"_That doesn't see all too fun._" Ryusuke frowned.

"_Yeah, but life goes on._" You agreed with a nod.

"_True._" He smiled and watched you eating your pizza.

"_What?_" You asked with your mouthful.

He laughed. "_It's nothing._"

"_Suuure._" You said sarcastically after swallowing. You then touched your finger to the tip of his nose. He made a face making you laugh.

"_Do you want to go to a movie tomorrow?_" He asked after a pause.

"_Yeah sure, what should we see?_" You asked with a thoughtful expression, stroking your chin.

"_It's up to you._" Ryusuke said playing with the straw from his drink.

"Marebito?" You suggested leaning back in your chair.

"_The horror movie?_" He asked chuckling.

"_Fuck yeah! I mean it's about a girl who needs to drink human blood to survive, how bad could it be?_" You smiled sweetly and started to work on your pizza's crust.

"_Okay, sure._" He looked down at his half finished pizza and took another bite.

"_What time do you want to go?_" You asked.

"_I don't really care._" He smiled. "_Want to see when the movie starts?_"

"_Fuck no! That messes up the adventure!_" You replied adamantly making a determined face.

"_So we might as well just go at noon and see when it's playing._" He chuckled.

"_I like that plan._" You put on a wide grin and laughed.

Ryusuke smiled and shook his head. "_You're a weird one._"

"_Definitely._" You agreed with a solemn expression. "_But..._" Your face lit up. "_I think I got it from hanging out with you when we were kids._"

"_Probably._" He smiled and raised an eyebrow. "_Pizza makes me tired for some reason._"

"_Really?_" You nodded. "_Fascinating, really really fascinating._" You grinned at him and he chuckled. You then noticed Chiba sneaking up behind Ryusuke. He put a finger up to his lips so you remained quiet.

"HEY! RYUSUKE!" He yelled getting looks from everyone in the pizza parlor.

"_Jesus Christ!_" Ryusuke yelled out in surprise. He then shoved Chiba away as he laughed loudly making many a person stare at him.

"Like, you really, like, need to like, chill maaaaan. Ya knoooow?" You said in a 'stoner surfer' voice. Both Chiba and Ryusuke look at you and started laughing as an old man walked by you grumbling about the stupidity of youth.

"Chiba, are you actually planning on eating this?" You heard Taira ask as he pointed at Chiba's 6th slice of pizza.

"Hell yeah!" He grinned and started giggling as he scurried back to the table.

"You aren't human." Koyuki said in disbelief as Chiba devoured the piece of pizza.

"Nah, just hungry." Chiba said happily with his mouthful.

You left the pizza parlor and all headed back to Ryusuke's house.

"Man I'm hungry." Chiba stated with a frown almost as soon as you all got to Ryusuke's.

"Fuck Chiba, you really have to start bringing your own food." Ryusuke said as he sat on the floor.

"Feeeeed meee!" Chiba pouted at Ryusuke. Everyone laughed.

"Awww, can we keep him?" You asked smiling. Chiba started laughing and then went back to pouting.

"Fine, have some Ramen." Ryusuke picked up his book and started reading again.

"YEAH!"

After hanging out with Ryusuke and his friends for the rest of the day you made your way home. You walked by a guitar store on the way home and stood there looking at a few guitar through the window. It just made you think of the 'old days'.

'_Man I'm an old soul_.' You smiled to yourself and continued home. You were so tired you could barley change when you got home but you managed to and crawled into bed.

*Flashback dream thing*

'_Oh my fucking god! What happened to you?!_' You ask, shocked as you approach Ryusuke. He has a black eye, split lip, and a huge bruise on the side of his face.

'_It's nothing._' He says forcing a smile.

'_Did your dad do this?_' You ask very concerned.

'_Just cause she's gone doesn't mean he'll take pity on me._' He trails off and looks at the ground.

'_You have to tell someone._' You say tilting your head. '_I'll tell if you don't want to._'

'_NO! Don't! It's my fucking business!_' He replies forcefully glaring at you.

'_I'm sorry.._.' Your eyes fall to the ground. You feel helpless. You want to help but there isn't really anything you can do.

'_...You don't have to apologize... I know you're just trying to help._' His eyes soften and he gives you a hug.

'_I'm still sorry... I don't know how to help._'


	5. Chapter 5

"_Come on, it's almost noon!_" Your mom said starting to get very annoyed with you.

"_I don't wanna get up_." You groaned and rolled over.

"_Ann, I swear, you act like a 4 year old._"

"_I thought you said that I got up too early when I was four._" You said with your eyes still closed.

"_Don't be a smart ass._" She said with her hands placed on her hips.

"_What? I'm 4, I have no idea what I just said._" You said innocently chuckling. Your mom rolled her eyes and walked out of the room. You then heard the door bell ring. You sprang out of bed and ran downstairs in a tank top and boy shorts. You zoomed past your mom who was about to open the door.

"_Hi Ray! What's up?_" You asked opening the door. He tried not to smile as he saw you standing there in just a tank top and boy shorts. Your mom stood there with her eye twitching.

"_Ann, put some clothes on._"

You grinned and nodded. "_Okie dokie._" You then went back upstairs and changed into baggy jeans and a shirt with an evil teddy bear (if there is such a thing) on it. You then went back downstairs to see Ryusuke still standing in the doorway and your mom glaring at him. Ryusuke looked like he was actually starting to get scared.

"_Hi._" You said stopping in front of Ryusuke.

"_Hello._" He replied, not daring to break eye contact with your mom as if she would attack if he did.

"_Okay mom, we are going to the movies._" You said smiling at her. Her eyes flicked to yours.

"_Goodbye sweetie, take care._"

"_Okay, bye bye._" You waved as you and Ryusuke started walking to the movie theater.

"_So, my little Ray Ray-kins, how are you?_" You asked with a straight face.

"_Ray Ray-kins huh?_" He shrugged. "_I'm extremely tired._" You frowned.

"_We need to get you more sleep... maybe we should give you the flu, then all you'd do is sleep... but then again you'd be more tired then you were before the flu... hmmmmm._" You made a pondering face and Ryusuke chuckled. Your face then lit up as you snapped your fingers. "_We'll get you so drunk you pass out every night! Problem solved._" Both you and Ryusuke laughed.

"_I like that idea better then giving me the flu._" Ryusuke replied thoughtfully.

"_Or you can try supplements that promote sleep._" You said nodding.

"_What's the fun in that?_"

After walking a few more blocks you reached the movie theater and saw the movie started in an hour. So you bought the tickets and looked around for something to do.

"_Dude!_" You pointed across the street. "_ICE CREAM!_"

"_Okay._" Ryusuke replied with a chuckle. "_What kind are you getting?_"

"_Vanilla_." You replied grinning. "_And yourself?_"

"_Chocolate._" He smiled.

"_No way! Vanilla is so much better than Chocolate._" You said smiling.

"_Nuh-uh._" He responded as you both crossed the street.

"_Yeah, it totally is._" You replied.

"_Oh you suck._" Ryusuke said jokingly. You gasped and then ran to the ice cream store pretending to sob.

"_I'm sorry._" He called after you chuckling.

"_I'm never talking to you again._" You said in a fake hurt voice. He laughed. "_Okay, ice cream time baby._" You made a mock seductive face and he smiled.

You both ordered your ice cream and sat down. You put a spoonful in your mouth and grinned.

"_You know, I always like getting ice cream when it's cold out. No idea why but I love it._" You said putting another spoonful in your mouth.

"_I do too._" Ryusuke nodded.

"_Oh my gods, like no way._" You replied in a high pitch tone.

Ryusuke laughed and nodded again. "_Way._"

"_Full moon sways, gently in the night of one fine day_." You sang quietly.

He smiled. "_Where did that come from?_"

"_Way, sway_, _they rhyme._" You stated nodding.

Ryusuke made a sound of agreement. "_Eddie's come a really long way huh?_"

"_Yeah, it's awesome. I went to one of their shows last year, so fucking amazing._" You grinned.

"_Agreed, we all went to their gig in Tokyo._" He said after swallowing the ice cream he had in his mouth.

"_Oh right, I guess that's how Koyuki got into the Dying Breed movie._"

"_Yep, he was quoting Eddie like crazy for the week after._" He smiled.

"_Ah yes, the quotes... alllll the time... every day._" You said with a smile while nodding. Ryusuke chuckled.

"_So very true._"

After an hour, you and Ryusuke returned to the movies and went to the concession stand.

"_What do you want?_" You asked getting in line.

"_Uhhh... do they have Ramen?_" Ryusuke asked innocently. You gave him a look and he chuckled. "_I don't care, what ever you want_."

"_Okie doke, you go save seats and I'll get the stuff._"

"_Okay._" He turned and headed up the stairs to the theater.

"Next!" A man said from behind one of the counters.

"Um, hi. Can I get a medium sprite, a large popcorn, a pack of mini-chocolate chip cookies, a small bag of potato chips, and a thing of gummy bears?"

"Of course, That'll be 2850 yen please."

"Okay, thanks." You handed the guy the money and carried everything upstairs to the theater. You located where Ryusuke was and walked over to him.

"_Take the popcorn before I drop it?_" You asked as he took the popcorn from your arms.

"_That's a lot of snacks._" Ryusuke said eying all the food you were struggling to arrange on your lap.

"_Well it's like an hour and a half and I like mindless eating._" You said matter-of-factly putting your sprite into the cup holder. "_Plus you get to help me._"

He nodded with a smile. "_Yeah, I don't eat all that much._"

"_Yeah well you've been living on fish and ramen, I need to fatten you up for the long and dark winter._" You stated opening the chocolate chip cookies. Ryusuke chuckled and looked at you like you were insane.

"_What do you think I'm gonna do? Hibernate?_"

"_Well the pond is gonna freeze over and you're only gonna be eating ramen. You must fatten up now, it's your last chance!_" You said with a scared look on your face. You both laughed.

"_Dude, that was a weird movie._" You said walking out of the theater.

"_Yeah... very bloody_." He commented as you started down the stairs.

"_Yeah but at least she drank the blood while making out with him, so it's all okay._" You said chuckling.

"_Oh yeah of course._"

"_Totally duuuuude._" You said in your 'stoner surfer' voice.

Ryusuke smiled. "_But it wasn't terrible._"

"_No, the girl was actually kinda hot._" You said with a nod. "_She had nice boobs, very perky._"

"_Interesting conclusion._" He laughed. "_So, do you want to go do something else?_"

"_Sure, I'm actually still hungry... we should go to that new diner that just opened a few blocks away._"

"_Okay, my treat._" He said smiling at you.

"_Dude, you're broke._" You replied raising an eyebrow.

"_I have 10000 yen, it shouldn't be that expensive._"

"_Fine, be a gentlemen._" You stuck your tongue out at him.

After eating at the diner and having really great conversations about music, school, homework, the fishing hole, and who the hell came up with the idea to name an animal 'the platypus', you went to the park to hang out.

"_Wow I'm beat._" You said sitting down on a bench.

"_Me too, but it was fun._" Ryusuke said sitting next to you.

"_Hell yeah! It was worth it to par-tay._" You said and shimmied. Ryusuke smiled and leaned back.

"_It's great to hang out with you again._" He looked at the ground.

"_Yeah, it's great hanging out with you too._" You looked over at him and smiled. "_I missed it._" Ryusuke nodded in agreement.

"_So... would you like to, I don't know, go to dinner or something? You know, with me?_" He asked as casually as he could.

"_Like a date?_" You asked pretty sure your cheeks were bright red.

"_Well, only if you want to._" Ryusuke quickly replied glancing up at you.

"_Of course I'll go on a date with you._" You said trying to fight the urge to jump up and down screaming like crazy.

"_Really?_" He asked seeming a bit surprised.

"_Yeah, you're a really great guy._" You said beaming at him.

"_Thanks._" He said with a smile.

"_It's not a problem._" You said as your cheeks started hurting from smiling so much.

"_I figured you wouldn't want to._"

"_And why would you think that?_" You asked poking his cheek gently. He smiled.

"_I don't know, you're just such a great girl._" He said with a shrug.

"_Awwww._" You hugged him and he chuckled. "_So when should we go out?_"

"_How about tomorrow?_" He suggested.

"_Okay, let's meet in front of my house to avoid a staring contest with my mom. Just call me when you're there._" You smiled as he twitched at the memory.

"_Alright, how about the time?_"

"_6PM? Also, surprise me when it comes to the place we're going._" You said with a grin.

"_Okay, cool._"


	6. Chapter 6

'_Should I wear something fancy? Like isn't that what you do on a date?_' It was 17:30 at the moment and you had decided to just put your hair in a ponytail and wear these butterfly earrings you dug out of your closet. Now you were just trying to figure out what to wear. You didn't want to freak him out by over-dressing or under-dressing. '_i can't believe I'm so nervous... I highly doubt he'd show up in a tuxedo with a bouquet of flowers._' You laughed at the idea and decided to wear a form-fitting, plaid tunic top and baggy jeans plus your converses. You sat down on your bed and stared at the phone, waiting for it to ring. When it finally did you grabbed it.

"_Yello?_" You asked into the phone.

"_Hey Ann, I'm here._" Ryusuke's voice replied. You refrained from squealing and replied, "_Okay cool, I shall be there momentarily._" You hung up beaming and skipped down stairs. "_Bye mom, I'll see you later._"

"_Okay, have fun tonight... don't come home too late._" She replied while watching the news.

"_Okie doke! Bye!_" You enthusiastically waved, grabbed a light sweater and then headed out the door. Ryusuke's mouth slightly opened at the sight of you.

"_You look, very nice._" He said with a nod.

"_Awww and you look faaaabulouss!_" You said in a high pitched voice. He laughed.

"_So I guess we should go?_" He asked.

"_Totally._" You grinned. "_Which way?_"

"_To the left._" He stated.

"_Ah-ha!_" You then started to walk down the street with Ryusuke. "_So, did you tell anyone about our date?_"

"_Uh, not really._"

"_Cool, I told Maho and she said not to ever sleep on your futon._" You laughed.

"_Yeah, she says that to everyone_." He shrugged and you chuckled.

"S_o, your birthday's in four days, you want me to hire some strippers?_" You asked laughing. He raised his eyebrows and laughed softly.

"_Not really. I don't really feel like having a celebration anyway._"

"_WHAT?! You must!_" You said persistently.

"_Eh, it's not really my thing._" He smiled and shrugged. You stared at him and then shoved him gently.

"_You must! You must! You muuuuuust! It's your 18th birthday, that's fucking awesome!_" You said excitedly.

"_Your birthday's in a month. What are you going to do?_" Ryusuke asked, ignoring your comment. You frowned at him.

"_You're avoiding the subject._"

"_I know._" He stated as you stuck your tongue out at him.

"_I'm going to hang out with you and your friends of course._" You answered knowing you weren't going to be able to talk Ryusuke into a huge awesome party but you had a plan.

"_Nothing special?_" He asked as you both stopped at a traffic light.

"_Hanging out with you all is special, it makes me super awesomely happy._" You said fluttering your eye lashes.

"_That's sweet._" He said smiling. You grinned.

"_We're here._" He said stopping in front of a nice looking restaurant. Your eyes widened in happiness.

"_OH MY GOD YAY! I'm getting pasta!_" You beamed and hugged him. It was an Italian restaurant, which was probably your favorite food EVER. "_I can't believe you actually remember my love of Italian food!_"

"_It's kinda hard to forget actually._" He stated rubbing the back of his head. You shrugged and walked inside.

"Hello Sir, do you have a reservation?" A man asked standing in front of a small desk.

"Yeah, Minami." He replied. The man scanned the list and apparently located the name.

"This way." He started to a small table and held the chair for you.

"Oh, thanks." You smiled.

"Not at all ma'am. A waiter will be with you shortly." He then walked back to man the entrance.

"_Wow, I really have to be on my best behavior._" You said eying all the dressed up people.

"_Don't worry, I doubt they're paying too much attention._" He said putting his elbows on the table.

"_Yeah or they wouldn't have let you in._" You smiled devilishly.

"_Oh that's so funny._" He replied sarcastically. You smiled and looked at the plate in front of you.

"_Snazzy design._" Ryusuke nodded in agreement. "_I probably shouldn't attempt to get alcohol, huh?_" You asked thoughtfully.

"_Probably not, although wine isn't exactly highly alcoholic._" He replied.

"_Who said anything about wine? I was going to try and get Tequila._" You said in a serious tone.

"_Oh, of course._" He replied in the same tone. You chuckled.

"_Wine's so grapily bitter._" You stuck your tongue out.

"_Grapily, huh?_" He asked in a teasing tone.

"_Neh._" You made a face.

"Hello I'm Ariwara, here are your menus." He handed both of you rather fancy looking menus. "Would you like anything to drink?"

"Sprite would be awesome, thank you." You said with a smile. The waiter nodded and scribbled it on his notepad and then looked expectantly at Ryusuke.

"Oh, no thanks."

"Okay, I'll be back with your sprite shortly." He bowed slightly and went off.

"_I'm soo hungry._" You said opening the menu. "_Are you?_"

"_Eh, I guess._" He opened the menu and started looking through everything.

"_How shall I choose?_" You asked pouting.

"_I thought you said you were going to have pasta._"

"_But there are so many yum-i-licous things!_" You said as your mouth watered. He chuckled.

"_What does that even mean?_" He asked eying the menu.

"_Which one?_" You leaned over the table. He pointed at one of them

"_Abbacchio al Forno alla Maniera Rocca_ _or Roast Lamb Rocca Priora Style._" You stuck out your lower lip. "_Poor lamb._"

"_Will you kill me if I get that?_" He asked chuckling.

"_My vegetarian heart is breaking!_" You said clutching where your heart was located. "_No, go right ahead._"

"_Alright._" He smiled as you took a sip of water.

"_I'm gonna get the pasta, I can't possibly decide._" You said with a sigh.

"Here you go ma'am." The waiter returned putting down your sprite on the table. "Have you decided what you would like to have?"

"Yeah, I'll have Pasta with parmesan cheese and tomato sauce." You grinned.

"Okay, and you sir?" The waiter looked to Ryusuke.

"Uh." Ryusuke looked at you with an eyebrow raised.

"He'll have the Abbacchio al Forno alla Maniera Rocca." You ordered for him.

"Yeah, medium well." He added.

"Okay which size?"

"The appetizer portion is fine." Ryusuke replied. The waiter scribbled on his notebook some more and then took your menus.

"I'll be back with your food momentarily." He then walked away again.

"_I can't take this abandonment._" You said jokingly as the waiter reached the other side of the restaurant.

"_Wow, clingy._"

After a wonderfully delicious dinner the bill came and Ryusuke reached out his hand which you slapped.

"_No, bad Ray-Ray-kins_."

He gasped slightly holding his hand limp with a sad face.

"_Awww! I'm sorry._" You said pouting.

"_I guess I can forgive you._"

"_Hooray! I'm paying though._" You stated.

"_Oh come on._" He said looking hesitant to try to reach for the bill again.

"_What? I ate more then you and you paid for the diner._" You said crossing your arms.

"_I was the one who asked you out._" He replied persistently.

"_Do not make me smack you in front of all these people._" You threatened pointing at him.

"_How about we pay for what we ordered?_" He reasoned.

"_Oh you... always the diplomat._" You then picked up the bill and added up what you ate and then handed it to Ryusuke. You dug in your pocket and found the required amount.

After you paid for your food, you two started on the walk back to your place.

"_You look cold._" Ryusuke watched you rub the sides of your arms.

"_Nah, not really._" You said trying not to shiver.

"_Here, take my jacket._" He took off his denim jacket and handed it to you.

"_Dude, you don't even have a long sleeved shirt._" You said pushing it away.

"_Well, we're only a few houses from your grandma's._" Ryusuke said matter-of-factly. "_I'm not going to wear it._"

"_God, pushy._" You remarked taking the jacket and putting it on. He chuckled and yawned.

"_Beck likes the cold._" He said nodding.

"_Really? Strange dog._" You replied with a grin.

Ryusuke smiled and shrugged. "_He has a strange owner._"

"_Very true._" You laughed. "_I miss my doggie._"

"_Yeah, poor Floofles._" Ryusuke nodded.

"_Oh you remember him?_"

"_Yeah, he was adorable._" He replied. "_He was a pomeranian puppy right?_"

"_Yeah... stupid cars._" You frowned, "_and windows._"

"_Why windows?_" Ryusuke raised an eyebrow.

"_My guinea pig Phyllis fell out the window when I was 16._" You pouted.

"_You named a guinea pig Phyllis?_" He tried not to laugh.

"_What? She looked like a Phyllis just as my three gold fish looked like a Harry, a Pookie, and a Cashew._"

"_Oh right, I remember them. How many pets have you actually had?_" He asked chuckling.

"_Like in my entire life?_" Ryusuke nodded. "_Uhhh... like 10._" You answered racking your brain.

"_Really? I've had two, Beck and Maho's rabbit she promised to take care of._" He said with another chuckle.

"_Oh right, Nibbles... cute adorable little Nibbles._" You said smiling.

"_Cute adorable Nibbles had a problem with her stomach and constantly regurgitated her food... not to mention she crapped all over my room._" He stated with a slight smile.

"_Eesh, not cool._" You said stopping in front of the door to your house. "_Well, we're here._"

"_Yeah._" He said nodding. You then noticed you had been holding Ryusuke's hand while you were walking home. You blushed slightly and took off his jacket.

"_Here ya go._" You handed it back to him and gave him a hug.

"_Thanks._" He gave you a squeeze and kissed you on the cheek. "_Goodnight._"

"_Hey, it's pretty far from your house... wanna sleep over?_" You asked hopefully as he started to turn around.

"_I would, but sleeping in a different bed isn't really my thing._" He shrugged and you laughed.

"_Well alright then, have a safe walk home._" You said opening up your front door.

"_I will, goodnight._" He turned and started to walk towards his house.

"_Night!_" You called after him and closed the door. You turned and leaned against the wall with a smile. '_That was… awesome._'

You made your way upstairs, got ready for bed and then changed into your pajamas. You yawned as you lay down and got yourself comfortable.

*Dream flashback*

You dial his number again and it says that the phone was disconnected. You shrug and head off to his house with your guitar case slung over your back. You are so excited to show Ryusuke that you had finally figured out Welcome to the Jungle by Guns 'N Roses. You get there and ring the door bell. No one answers so you ring again. You roll your eyes. '_That boy better not have another hangover._' You say to yourself as you open the front door to the apartment building with the keys Ryusuke had given you and head upstairs. You decide to just go in and give him a surprise, but your key to the apartment door doesn't work. You frown and knock on his neighbor's door.

"_Oh hey Ann, what can I do for you?_" Mr. Martinez asks after he opened the door.

"_Hi, do you know where Ryusuke is?_" You ask hopefully.

"_Yeah... he moved._" He replies looking at you as if you were mental.

"_Oh... where?_" You ask still hopeful he might just have moved down the block.

"_Japan_."

You stood there in shock. Your best friend for as long as you can remember moved to fucking Japan without telling you and with out a phone number!

"_Thanks._" You whisper and go down the stairs and start walking home. You start walking faster as tears start rolling down your cheeks. You kept your head down and tried not to start sobbing. Finally you get home and run to the door to your apartment. You opened the door and took off your shoes. You threw your guitar case on the couch and grab the phone.

'_Why didn't he call? He couldn't have just called?! I must have done something._' Thoughts are flying through your head. You never felt so angry and sad before.

You quickly dial Eddie's number and wait for him to answer.

'_Hello?_' Eddie's voice asks calmly over the phone.

'_Do you know Ryusuke moved to Japan?_' You ask trying to hide the tears in your voice.

'_Yeah, he told me like a week ago, why?_' You stare at the window sill and take a deep breath so as not to start sobbing.

'_He didn't tell me..._'

'_Oh... sorry you didn't know_.' Eddie replies sounding sad.

'_Why didn't he tell me?_'


	7. Chapter 7

You peered out the window and saw Ryusuke walking towards his house with Beck on a leash. You grinned evilly to yourself and hid behind a bookshelf.

"_SURPRISE!_" You yelled as loud as you could when Ryusuke walked through the door. He jumped and then started to laugh.

"_Jesus Christ, don't do that!_"

"_Couldn't resist._" You shrugged and sat down on his futon.

"_How did you get in here anyway?_" He asked raising an eyebrow.

"_I came in through the front door, duuh._" You said picking up one of his books.

"_Oh, right, the lock got fucked up._" Ryusuke sighed and then sat down next to you and put his head on your shoulder.

"_You tired?_" You asked as Ryusuke closed his eyes.

"_Yeah, I didn't sleep much._" He replied yawning.

"_Awww._" You pouted. "_Oh, I almost forgot._" You handed him a box wrapped with bright paper. "_Happy Birthday!_"

"_You didn't have to._" He said as he started to open it.

"_No, but I wanted to._" You grinned at him.

"_Awesome, a new effects pedal, thanks._" He gave you a hug, smiling.

"_No problem, I heard your old one fell into the pond._" You chuckled.

"_Heh, yeah._" He stretched, got up and went to his guitar. "_Wanna test it out?_" He asked holding his Les Paul.

"_What? The effects pedal?_" You asked and he nodded. "_'Tis your effects pedal._"

"_So? I haven't heard you play since you moved over here._" He handed you the guitar.

"_Okay fine._" You stuck your tongue out and began to play and sing Boom Boom by John Lee Hooker. Ryusuke smiled and got his acoustic guitar and joined in. You played a short solo combining blues scales with miscellaneous notes.

"_Your turn._" You said holding the rhythm. Your jaw dropped as he played a solo without any scales, just completely from feeling. You couldn't help but smile.

"Are we interrupting something?" Chiba's rowdy voice asked loudly.

"Not really, just a jam session." You laughed and put down Ryusuke's guitar turning off the amp. You then sat back on Ryusuke's futon. He joined you and went back to resting his head on your shoulder.

"Good because we brought cake." Saku said smiling, holding a box.

"And VODKA!" Chiba yelled enthusiastically as he held up a bottle and giggled.

"Don't get too carried away." Taira said with a thoughtful smile.

"Oh come on!" Chiba groaned. You laughed.

"What kind of cake did you decide on?"

"Strawberry short cake." Koyuki smiled. "We got it from that high end bakery a few blocks from here."

"No kidding! My mom had that for her birthday but it was this lemon cake thing, it was fuckin' awesome." You grinned and then looked down at Ryusuke.

"_What?_" He asked with his eyes closed.

"_You're quiet, that's all._" You poked his nose and he scrunched up his face. Chiba's boisterous laugh made you look up at him.

"Let's get this party started!" He yelled and jogged in to the kitchen giggling. Ryusuke chuckled and everyone started getting settled. Chiba came back with plastic cups and 6 plates with cake.

"Hooray! MY CAKE!" You grabbed one of the plates from him and attacked the cake. Your eyes gleamed as you tasted the fluffy goodness.

"Holy shit, this is really good cake." Ryusuke said with his mouth full.

"Yeah and I'm not really a cake person." Koyuki smiled chewing.

"Not a... cake person?! How is this possible?" You pretended to look shocked and horrified. "Oh well, do you like pie?"

"Yup." Koyuki replied.

"Then I guess I can forgive you." You shrugged and went back to your cake.

"Who wants vodka?" Chiba giggled as he poured the it into the cups.

"I do." Ryusuke said still eating his cake.

"Me too." You grinned evilly.

"So do I." Taira raised his hand. Chiba looked at Saku and Koyuki and grinned.

"Uh, no thanks... I'll just have some tea." Koyuki said and Chiba frowned.

"You suck ass."

"Oh don't be mean." You stuck your tongue out at Chiba. "Tea is pretty hardcore."

"Yeah." Saku agreed laughing. Chiba took a gulp from the cup and got up and started to make tea.

"Who knew you were so good at catering to people?" You asked after him.

"Ha ha." He replied sarcastically as Taira laughed.

"Yo, is there any orange juice while you're up?"

After about an hour the whole bottle of vodka was empty and Chiba had actually went out to get a second one, which was now almost gone.

"Uhh, you know... that thing with the airplane, like the hall thing?" You asked trying to tell the story of how you practically fell onto a stewardess carrying boiling hot tea when you were flying to Japan after Koyuki spilled a bit of tea on the floor.

"Nooo idea." Chiba giggled with a blush across his face.

"_You know Ray, aisle. How the hell do you say that in Japanese?_" You asked pouting.

Ryusuke raised an eyebrow with half open eyes trying to think. "Tsuro?_ I think._" He looked to Chiba.

"Like an aisle seat?" Chiba asked squinting his eyes.

"Yeah, I guess." You replied. "Whatever, point is, it all worked out." You beamed at him.

"YAY!" Chiba said laughing.

Your eyes closed and your head nodded forward. You pulled your head back up wearing a sloppy smile.

"You are so drunk." Taira laughed watching you.

"Oh I am so not drunken." You slurred giggling as Ryusuke laughed. "I'm not! Serious!"

"I'm pretty sure all of you are." Saku said eying all of you.

"I'm not drunk, drunk, just sort of drunk." Ryusuke explained with a chuckle. Your eyelids drooped and you giggled.

"Right about now I'm happy I just had tea." Saku said as Koyuki nodded. At that exact moment Chiba slumped over and fell asleep. Taira laughed.

"Heh heh, funny." Taira said looking too happy not to be drunk.

"He's, he's so, like, so... fuzzy." You managed to say looking at Ryusuke. He nodded and yawned. Your head drooped forward landing on Ryusuke's shoulder. You nuzzled him and he kissed the top of your head and then chuckled.

"Should we like... I don't know... keep them separated?" Koyuki asked eying the two of you being rather affectionate. You kept touching his face and hanging all over him.

"Nah." Saku took another sip of tea. You grinned stupidly at Ryusuke and then got up.

"We should totally go get more alcohol." You said incoherently. Everyone looked at you funny and then you keeled over.

"_Holy crap._" Ryusuke said sitting there looking at you with his head tilted. "_You kay?_" You grinned.

"_I'm awesome._" You rolled on to Ryusuke's futon. You giggled and gave him a really sloppy drunken kiss.

"Oh boy." Koyuki said covering his face with his hand, blushing.

"I think that's our cue to leave." Saku said as you and Ryusuke nuzzled each other.

"AWWWW!" You said with a huge pout.

"Don't worry, we'll be here tomorrow." Koyuki said, obviously a little uncomfortable about the whole drunk making out thing.

"Fine, I'll miss yoooooou!" You said as they both stood.

"We'll miss you too." Saku said with a smile. "Are you coming Taira-kun?"

"Nah, I'm just gonna crash here." He replied as your tongue entered into Ryusuke's mouth and felt around. He then broke the kiss and started kissing your neck.

"Okay, well… we're getting out of here." Koyuki said watching you and Ryusuke with a slightly concerned look.

"They'll be fine." Taira said following Koyuki's line of vision.

"Alright, well, night." Saku said as he and Koyuki left. You just giggled and bit Ryusuke's lower lip gently and let it slide from your teeth. You put your forehead on his so your noses were touching and planted one more kiss on his lips and then passed out.

"_Uh, Ann._" Ryusuke's muffled voice said. You felt your lips pressed against some else's. Your eyes flicked open, realizing you were kissing him in your sleep. You sat up and grinned sheepishly.

"_Sorry, heh heh._" You rubbed the back of you head awkwardly and stood up.

"_I don't mind, I just couldn't get up with you on me._" He smiled and sat up. You laughed and then realized your head hurt.

"_Owwwwww, headache._" You groaned and sat down looking around the room. Taira was curled up in the corner sleeping and Chiba was sprawled out on the floor. You yawned and then groaned again. "_I need advil._"

"_Yeah, me too._" Ryusuke massaged his temples, got to his feet and walked into the bathroom. You lay back and closed your eyes as your head pounded. You felt unbelievably tired and nauseous.

"_Oh crap._" You got up and ran for the bathroom. Ryusuke fortunately knew what was going to happen and held your hair back. You vomited several times and then flushed the toilet. You groaned and rinsed your mouth out with water, leaning all your weight on the side of the sink. "_I have the classic hangover._"

"_That sucks man._" He pouted and handed you the advil. You took the small pill with a handful of water and walked back to his bed. You lay back down and rested your arm over your eyes. Ryusuke lay down next to you and you snuggled in to him. He gently placed his arm around you and held you close.

"_Soooo tired._" You muttered with a yawn. Ryusuke nodded in agreement.

Your eyes slowly opened to see Taira and Chiba playing video games; Saku and Koyuki playing cards and Ryusuke reading a book.

"_Good morning._" Ryusuke said glancing over at you. You waved enthusiastically and sat up. "Feeling any better?"

"Yeah but I'm still totally beat." You yawned and stretched.

"Your mom called earlier." Ryusuke said chuckling.

"Oh did she now?" You asked making a face. "What'd she say?"

"She said to call her as soon as possible and you were in big trouble." He grinned at you.

"Oh, wonderful." You stated and rolled your eyes. "Can I borrow your phone?"

"Sure." He handed it to you and you dialed your mom's number.

"Hello?" You heard your mom ask.

"_Hey buddy._" You said grinning sheepishly.

"_ANNA! Where the hell were you last night?! Fucking that boyfriend of yours?!_" Your mouth dropped open.

"_Mom! No!_" You yelled back incredulously. Ryusuke raised an eyebrow looking up from his book. "_We are not boyfriend and girlfriend!_" '_I don't think so anyway._' You mentally added.

"_HA! Yeah right. I know exactly what you've been up to!_" She yelled back.

"_It was Ray's birthday, I got slightly drunk so I decided to stay here._" You replied rolling your eyes.

"_YOU WHAT?! You're only 16!_" She yelled hysterically.

"_No I'm not! I'm turning 18 next month!_" You heard Ryusuke laugh behind you. You whipped around and gave him a look. His smile faded and he went back to reading his book.

"_Oh right... but that's not the point! You're too young to be drinking!_" She yelled angrily.

"_Dude, calm down, it was just a little birthday fun. It's not like I do it every day._" You heard silence on the other end. "_Hello?_"

"_Ann..._" Her voice was dangerously quiet.

"_Yeeees?_" You gulped and waited for her to start screaming.

"_YOU ARE GROUNDED FOR A WEEK! GET HOME RIGHT NOW!_" She screamed at the top of her lungs. You held the phone from your ear.

"_B-but I'm still hanging out at Ray-_"

"_NO BUTS!_" She interrupted you.

"_Why are you making it into such a huge deal?_" You asked.

_"Please tell me used protection._" She said after a pause.

"_MOM! Ryusuke and I did not have sex!_" You said loudly into the phone. Ryusuke raised his eyebrows with a smile.

Chiba leaned over to him. "Did she just say what I think she said?" Ryusuke nodded as a response to Chiba. He grinned and giggled.

"_Riiiight._" Your mom replied sarcastically. "_Now get home!_"

"Here, Taira, did Ray and I have sex?" You handed the phone to him. His eyes widened and he pushed it back at you. "What?" You whispered.

"I don't wanna get involved." Taira replied to you quietly.

"Please?" You pouted.

"They didn't have sex." Taira said quickly into the phone and handed it back to you. You smiled ever so sweetly at Taira and waited for your mom's response.

"_You're still grounded for not calling._" She replied smugly. You held back a snide remark and exhaled.

"_Fine, I'll come home._" You hung up and muttered to yourself.

"_That was an interesting conversation._" Ryusuke commented smirking. You stuck your tongue out at him and gathered your things.

"Alright, well I guess I'm grounded. See you guys whenever I'm let loose on the public again." You gave a half-hearted smile.

"Good luck."


	8. Chapter 8

*Dream flashback*

'_Hey Ann... it's been a long time._' You look up from the sidewalk to see Eddie standing in front of you with a comforting smile.

'_Holy shit!_' You say beaming. You give him a hug. '_Wow, what have you been up to?_'

'_Nothing much, Dying Breed just finished up a tour._' He says nodding.

'_I know! Congrats on the album going platinum._'

'_Thanks, I appreciate it._' He replies with a chuckle in a modest tone.

It's been a year since you and Eddie saw each other. About a month after Ryusuke left Eddie had dropped out of school to tour with Dying Breed. You hadn't really talked to him after that.

'_Wow, it's so great to see you!_' You exclaim happily.

'_Likewise, it's been weird not having you two around. Takes a lot of getting use to._' He grins.

'_Have you talked to Ray at all?_' You ask with a meek smile.

'_Yeah, but not much._'

'_How is he?_' You ask, your smile fading slightly.

'_He says he's fine._'

*End*

Your eyes opened and looked around your room. You reached for your glasses and put them on. '_Freedom_!' You grinned and got up. You hadn't been allowed out of your house for the past two weeks, which you thought was your mom overreacting, but apparently your grandma also had something to do with it.

You skipped to the bathroom, took care of your hygiene and then went back to your room. You dialed Ryusuke's number and waited for an answer.

"Hello?"

"_HIIII! I'm FREE!_" You said loudly with joy.

"_Cool._" You heard a smile in Ryusuke's voice.

"_Can I come over? Pretty please?_" You asked trying to sound as innocent as possible.

"_Yeah, sure._" He chuckled. "_Anytime is fine._"

"_YAY! I shall be there in a jiff._" You said beaming. "_Byes!_"

"_Later._" You both hung up and you went about your business. After you got ready you went downstairs, hoping your mom wouldn't flip out for some reason.

"_Hey buddy._" You grinned at her. "_I'm going to go hang out with friends._"

"_Fine._" She grumbled reading a newspaper.

"_Okay, awesome! Bye-bye._" You waved and went out the door.

After walking for a bit you got to Ryusuke's and happily opened the door. Taira, Chiba, Saku, and Koyuki were all there and Chiba grinned at you.

"Well hello." He giggled with a diabolic expression.

"What?" You raised an eyebrow.

"Your boyfriend's in the back." Chiba snickered pointing to the pond. You smacked the back of his head semi hard.

"He's not my boyfriend." You walked out to the back and ran up to Ryusuke.

"_Dude, that was sooooo shitty!_" You pouted and hugged him. He chucked and gave you a squeeze back. "_Did you miss me?_" You fluttered your eyelashes.

"_Yeah actually._" He smiled and let go of you as you let go of him.

"_Hooray! I missed you too! It totally sucked!_"

"_Yeah, it's really weird not having you show up at my house at 6AM._" He said teasingly with a smile.

"_Hey, that was one time._" You said making a face.

"_Yeah and the other time you came here at 5 in the morning._" He grinned as you narrowed your eyes.

"_Well... neh._" You stuck your tongue out at him.

"_Brilliant comeback._"

"_Oh shut up._" You elbowed him gently. "_Wanna go inside and annoy everyone?_"

"_Sure._" He followed you into the house.

"How was solitary confinement?" Taira asked tilting his body to the left trying to get his virtual car ahead of Chiba's.

"Horrible. My mom had me washing dishes and cleaning non-stop." You plopped down on the floor and yawned.

"I know what that's like." Koyuki said with a small smile as he and Saku played chess.

"I'm not surprised, 'tis a bus boy's job." You nodded.

Koyuki laughed. "My boss is a psycho though."

"Yeah, he threw a knife at you once, right?" Saku asked moving his bishop.

"Uh-huh, thankfully he can't aim." Koyuki grinned sheepishly. "Check."

"Again? Hmmm." Saku slowly moved his knight, blocking his king.

"You just lost." You said studying the game.

"Huh?" Saku asked as Koyuki took his knight with his queen.

"Checkmate."

"Oh crap." Saku laughed. "Yet again, he beats me."

You laughed. "Ryusuke's the worst chess player in the world."

"Shut up." He replied reading a book.

"What? It's true." You smiled and he shrugged.

"Have you two continued on from Ryusuke's birthday?" Chiba asked giggling.

"I hate you, you know that right?" Chiba burst out laughing and then abruptly stopped.

"NOOOO!" He screamed as Taira beat him at the racing game they were playing. Taira chuckled as Chiba curled up in a ball. "Weak man!"

"How did you find out anyway? You were passed out on the floor." You asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Saku told me, I only wish I had a video camera! You could have been the next Paris Hilton!"

You shook your head chuckling. "Get your mind out of the gutter."

"Never!" He then got up and went into the kitchen. "HEY RYUSUKE! WE'RE ALL OUT OF RAMEN!"

You yawned and opened the door to the fishing hole after getting more ramen for Chiba.

"I love you!" Chiba hugged you and grabbed the bag you were holding and ran into the kitchen happily.

"You owe me, Ray, the waitress person was a total bitch." You sat down on the floor and stretched. He looked up at you as he chuckled. "It's totally not funny." He shrugged and went back to his book.

"You mind grabbing me a bowl of ramen too?" Taira asked Chiba as he strummed Ryusuke's unplugged electric guitar.

"FINE!" He yelled back.

"And one for me?" Ryusuke added lazily. Chiba's head popped out of the kitchen and he pouted. "What? You're the ramen chef."

"FINE!" He yelled again.

You laughed. "You're a nut."

"You're just about as nutty as I am." He pointed out with a huge grin.

"Yeah, but you have nuts, so." You said casually making everyone laugh.

All of your heads turned as you heard the door open.

"Oh hey Maho." Koyuki said smiling.

"Hey Koyuki!" She waved and laughed.

"Where the hell did you run off to?" Ryusuke asked looking up as Maho closed the door.

"I told you already. God you never listen." She rolled her eyes and sat down next to you. Ryusuke shrugged and continued reading.

"She went to Yokohama." You said to Ryusuke laughing in slight disbelief. "I can't believe you forgot, she was talking about it all last month."

"I wasn't really paying attention."

"You're such a dick." She glared at him and shook her head. "So anyway, I heard about your little make out session."

"Saku, how many people did you tell?" You asked looking over at him, he was about to respond but Maho interrupted.

"Chiba told me." She shrugged and then grinned at her brother. "Was it a good present, Ray?"

"I was drunk." He stated with a shrug not looking up. You made yourself smile, but felt a little sad.

"Oh, riiiight." She teased and leaned back on the wall. "I got you something in Yokohama." She tossed a small box at him and he caught it.

"What is it?" He held up a key chain with a small metal guitar pick on it.

"A key chain you moron. You put your keys on it." She shook her head and yawned. "Dad said Happy Birthday by the way."

"Ah." He put the key chain on a bookshelf and went back to reading.

After a few more hours, everyone went their separate ways, leaving you and Ryusuke.

"_Why am I always the last one at your house?_" You asked, playing solitaire.

"_No idea._" Ryusuke shrugged nearing the end of his book.

"_I can't believe you almost finished that entire thing in a day._" You eyed him with an eyebrow raised. "_That takes conviction._" He laughed.

"_Not really, I just like the series._"

"Y_eah me too. I assume Maho got you hooked?_" You asked smiling. He nodded and chuckled. About 5 minutes passed and you were almost finished with your solitaire game. '_Dammit, the Jack must still be under one of the piles._' You thought to yourself with a frown.

"_Can I ask you something?_" Ryusuke looked up at you from his book.

"_Oh yeah, sure._" You put down the cards and looked at him.

"_I mean, it's probably a stupid question._" He said with a shrug.

"_Come on, what's your question?_" You smiled encouragingly.

"_Well... do you remember on my birthday when we were drunk towards the end of the day?_" He asked trying to sound casual.

"_Yeeeeah, which part?_" You asked.

"_The, I don't know, make-out fiesta?_" He replied quickly with a short laugh.

"_Oh right, yeah... sorry about that._" You forced a small smile and looked back down at the cards.

"_It's fine... I just wanted to ask you if it, meant anything._" He was looking into your eyes and you cocked your head trying to figure out how you should answer. To be honest that question had been floating around in your mind for the past two weeks. To you it did but you were afraid... no petrified he would say he didn't like you like that and it would ruin your friendship. "_I told you it was a stupid question._" He said with a chuckle.

"_Well, to me it did... or at least I wanted to think it did._" You said quietly, blushing furiously.

"_What? Really?_" He asked seeming surprised.

"_I can't help what I felt._" You said with a shrug and a slight smile.

"_I felt the same way._" Ryusuke said after a small pause.

"_Really?_" You asked raising your eyebrows. He nodded.

"_It's weird but ever since you came over here I kinda felt like… I mean, I figured it was because I missed you or something, but now I kinda think it's not just that._" He said hurriedly.

"_So have I._" You said shocked that he felt the same way. "_I didn't want to ruin our friendship._"

Ryusuke's lips curled into small smile and he nodded. "_Same here… Well that's a load off my mind._"

"_Oh my god, I totally know the feeling._" You chuckled letting out a big sigh. "_Phew._"

"_Nice to have that out of the way._" He said with a bit of a chuckle.

"_Agreed._" You said beaming at him with a nod.

There was a bit of an awkward silence until you peeped up again. "_So what does this mean?... Are we like, together now or whatever?_"

"_Uhh… I don't know, do you want to be together?_" He asked.

"_I guess? I mean, if you want to._" There was another few moments of quiet. For once, neither of you could really think of anything to say. Your phone broke the silence playing the Jaws theme.

"_I'd better get that, it's my mom's ringtone._" You said with a small smile as you reached for your phone.

"_Alright._" He said quickly returning the smile with a nod.

"_Hello?_" You answered the phone.

"_Anna, it's 8PM, I except you home in 15 minutes._" Your mom's voice said firmly.

"_But my curfew's at 11._" You replied with a raised eyebrow.

"_Yes, well, I'm changing it. You lost curfew and you haven't earned it back._" She responded.

"_It takes a half hour to get home from Ryusuke's._" You said in an annoyed tone.

"_Make it fifteen._" She said sounding pissed off so you decided not to mess with her.

"_Fine._" You said making a face and hung up the phone. "_I have to go._" You frowned.

"_Ah, that sucks._" He said getting up to face you.

"_Yeah._" You stood there for a few seconds staring at the floor. You looked up at him and chuckled slightly. "_Well… bye I guess._" Before you knew what was happening, Ryusuke's lips were pressed against yours. Your eyes widened in surprise but then gently closed. You placed your arms around his neck as he put his hands on your hips and pulled you closer to him. After what seemed like an eternity, Ryusuke broke the best kiss you'd had in your life and put his forehead against yours so your noses touched.

"_Okay, now we can say goodbye._"

You smiled and nuzzled his nose. "_Well now I don't want to._"

He returned the smile and hugged you. "_I'll see you tomorrow._"

"_Yeah... until tomorrow._"


	9. Chapter 9

"_Happy Birthday, Anna._" Your mom handed you a small box with wrapping paper.

"_Aww, thanks mom._" You smiled and gave her a hug. She kinda pushed you off and pat you on the back. You frowned and then opened the box. It was a pink knitted sweater that had a lip imprint sown on to it. "_Wow... it's really great._" You forced a smile and tried to ignore it's perfumey aroma.

"_Try it on_." She beamed at you with her hands clasped at her chest. You put it on and looked down at yourself. "_Turn around._"

"_What?_" You asked with an eyebrow raised.

"_Do a little twirl or something._" Your mom commanded impatiently. You sighed and did what she asked. "_Oh you're cute as a button._"

You tried not to laugh. "_Thanks._"

The door bell then rang and you ran to the door and opened it.

"Hey guys!" You said beaming seeing Ryusuke, Chiba, Taira, Koyuki, and Saku.

"Dude, what happened to you?" Ryusuke asked staring at the sweater.

"My mom got it for me... it's really nice isn't it?" You gave him a look.

"Oh, oh yeah. It's awesome." He replied smiling at your mom standing behind you. She forced a smile at him.

"_Hello Ryusuke... _how are you?"

"Fine... and you?" He asked awkwardly.

"Very well, thank you." She glared at him as you step towards your friends and smiled at her.

"Okay, well we better get going." Her eyes flicked towards you and she smiled a little too sweetly.

"_Okay dear, have fun_." You were about to say bye, but she closed the door.

"Sorry about her, she's cranky." You all turned and walked to the van parked in front of the house.

"It's fine, my mom's like that sometimes." Taira said stretching a bit.

"Dude, your mom's hot!" Chiba grinned and giggled. Taira raised his eyebrows yawning.

"You have issues."

Chiba burst out laughing and ran to the driver's side of the van. "I'm driving!"

"Drive at the speed limit though, I can't afford another speeding ticket." Ryusuke muttered getting in the back.

"You still owe me 9000 yen!" Chiba yelled animatedly, buckling his seat belt.

"Well if you speed, don't get caught." You said matter-of-factly. Chiba grinned at you and looked to Ryusuke.

"Marry her." He giggled

"Shut up." Ryusuke replied.

"Is Maho coming to the show?" Koyuki asked after a pause.

"Yeah." Ryusuke responded as Chiba started the van and drove down the block. "I think she's bringing Yoshito with her."

"Oh." Koyuki replied looking a bit sad.

"Yoshito is...?" You trailed off with an innocent expression.

"Uh, he's on some soap opera, Maho met him at school." Ryusuke replied.

"Oh cool."

"Yeah, they seem to be really good friends." Koyuki said with a slightly worried expression. You nodded and then sneezed. Ryusuke started chuckling and smiled at you.

"What?" You asked rubbing your nose.

"It's cute when you sneeze." He replied with a smile.

"AWWW!" Chiba said loudly from the front seat. You laughed.

"I'm just precious!" You said in a higher pitch than usual. Everyone laughed.

"Oh that reminds me. I had a fuckin' crazy dream!" Chiba said stopping at a red light.

"Do tell." You said eagerly.

"I dreamt there was a really old monkey in an old lady wig and a dress and she was cleaning my house. It was fucking terrifying."

"Holy shit, that's awesome." Taira laughed.

"No it wasn't! It was horrible!" Chiba said loudly. You laughed and shook your head.

"I wonder what dream analyzer person would say about that." You pondered out loud.

"I'm not in a rush to find out." Chiba replied with a grin and you smiled.

"Man I barley slept." Saku said after a few minutes.

"Why, were you making sweet love?" You asked casually. He looked at you with with wide eyes.

"Behave." Ryusuke said chuckling.

"Or what? You'll spank me?"

Chiba burst out laughing. "Seriously! Marry her!"

"Seriously, shut up." Ryusuke replied as you looked back at Saku.

"I was studying for a test."

"Oh, right." You winked at him and he laughed.

"You need to stop hanging out with Chiba so much." Taira said chuckling.

"HEY!" Chiba yelled and made a face at Taira.

"Eyes, road." You said pointing to the front of the car. "But yeah, studying sucks. That's why I don't do it."

"Neither did I until my dad almost killed me because of my last test's results so I decided to at least try." Saku grinned.

"My mom makes sure I study. It's kind of hard not to at this point." Koyuki sighed. "But at least she hasn't grounded me for a while."

"That's always good." You smiled. "My mom just LOVES grounding me."

"Yeah, I've realized." Saku said with a smile.

"Indeed." You pouted. "Ever since I got suspended from my last school, she's been grounding me at ever opportunity."

"You got suspended?" Ryusuke asked with surprise.

You nodded with a sigh. "I flashed the gym teacher."

Ryusuke started laughing. "He was the most unattractive teacher in school."

"Yeah, well I was drunk and it was a dare." You shrugged. "But anyway, after that she became a grounding machine."

"That's weak man." Chiba said with a frown.

"Tell me about it."

After a few more blocks, you all reached the venue. You helped them unload all their gear and then started inside.

"Duuuude! I'm so excited!" You said giggling as you watched a band rehearse.

"I guess that's good." Ryusuke said smiling.

"Totally." You beamed.

"I'm really nervous." Koyuki said rubbing the back of his head.

"Awww." You pouted and hugged him. "If you fuck up I won't laugh."

"Oh wow, thanks." Koyuki laughed.

"The next time I have a problem I'll definitely come to you." Ryusuke joked and you stuck your tongue out at him.

"Hey guys!" Maho said from behind you. You turned and saw a guy with blonde hair following her.

"Hey Maho." Ryusuke said lazily. "What's up?"

"Nothing much." She smiled and looked at you. "Have you met Yoshito yet?

"Nope." You replied and waved at Yoshito. "Hi." He forced a smile as he eyed your dyed hair.

"Hey."

"Have you been to a BECK show before?" You asked attempting to be conversational.

"Yeah."

"Awesome." You nodded with a small smile.

"So how've you been?" Taira asked Yoshito.

"Fine. I've had a LOT of school work and my dad's been having a lot of dinner parties." He chuckled. Taira nodded as he took out a pack of cigarettes.

"You addict." You joked as he lit one. He shrugged with a sort of goofy smile.

"My dad smoked a lot, then he had a stroke so he quit... well sorta. Now he just pretends like he doesn't and acts like he doesn't smell smoke on his clothes."

"Weird, my mom did that too." Ryusuke said thoughtfully. "Our parents hung out way too much."

"Yeah and It's all our fault they did."

Ryusuke chuckled. "True."

"Man, that bathroom is like a fucking pig sty." Chiba said walking towards you.

"Awww." You frowned.

"Yeah, I hate public restrooms." Yoshito replied with a nod.

"Who doesn't?" Saku asked stretching out his arms with his drum sticks. You shrugged.

"BECK, you're up!" A guy said from behind the soundboard. "We have 15 minutes 'till the show."

After soundcheck, the doors were opened and people started piling in.

You were surprised to see so many people packed into such a small room, you were already sweaty from the body heat.

"WHAT'S UUUUUP?!" Chiba yelled into the microphone. Everyone cheered.

"I LOVE YOU CHIBA!" A girl yelled next to you. You laughed to yourself and looked back up at the stage.

"Who knows who we are?!" Chiba asked with a grin.

"BECK!" Everyone screamed.

"What?" He made a face and cupped his hand around his ear.

"BECK!" Everyone yelled at the top of their lungs.

"YEAH! This first song is called _Spice of Life_!" Saku gave the count and everyone started jumping and singing along.

"_Yeah! Take a ride! Yeah! For your life!_" You all screamed pounding your fists in the air. Then Ryusuke's guitar solo filled the club.

"_FUCK YEAH!_" You yelled at the top of your lungs. Maho laughed and did a mock head bang. It was amazing. You felt totally exhilarated, sweaty but exhilarated.

After screaming and dancing for an hour you were beat. The last song was Face. Everyone sang along with Koyuki and then it was over. You pouted and sniffled.

"_It seems like it was so short!_"

"_Yeah, it always is._" Maho joined you in the pout and then both of you laughed.

"_Let's go attack them back stage!_" You giggled.

"_Yeah!_" Maho agreed happily.

"_Uh, Maho, I have to go._" Yoshito said from behind you making you jump. You totally forgot he was there.

"_Oh, that sucks._" She frowned and then gave him a hug. "_See you tomorrow?_"

"_Yeah, see you._" He turned and left the club.

"_Nice meeting you._" You called after him. "_Onwards?_"

"_Oh yeah!_" You and Maho jogged backstage. You opened the door and tackled Ryusuke on the couch.

"DUDE! You guys ROCK!" You said excitedly.

Ryusuke chuckled. "Thanks."

"I remember when you sucked at guitar... gah, I'm so proud!" You said making your pitch rise to swell with pride. He smiled and you got comfortable sitting on his lap.

"And Taira... dude... you're like the next fucking Cliff Burton." You grinned happily.

"What about me?" Chiba asked pouting, interrupting Taira's reply.

You laughed. "You're like Madonna."

"FUCK YEAH!" He yelled laughing.

"Hey, where'd Saku and Koyuki go?" You asked looking around the room.

"Oh nowhere." Taira said casually leaning back on the couch taking a much needed sip of water.

"Where?" You asked again raising your eyebrows.

"You'll find out!" Chiba giggled excitedly. You stuck your tongue out at him and then snuggled into Ryusuke.

"My footies hurt." You frowned and then smiled. "But it's totally worth a few blisters for a BECK show."

"Well that's good news." Taira smiled.

"Damn right." You nodded and sniffed Ryusuke's hair. "DUDE! I need your shampoo!"

He chuckled. "I don't know what it's called."

"Why must you be so clueless?" You happily sniffed his hair again.

"We did it!" Saku announced opening the door.

"Ooo what?!"

"We found the only open cake shop." Your eyes gleamed seeing a cardboard box in Koyuki's hands.

"Gimme gimme gimme!" He handed it to you and you put it on a table. You found plates and forks and got out 7 pieces. "GROUP HUG!"

"YEEEEAH!" Chiba yelled getting up with extended arms. Ryusuke laughed and lazily stood. You squeezed everyone half to death and then handed out cake.

"Wow, I'm beat." Taira yawned sitting at the small bar in the club. You all had been listening to all the other bands for 2 hours. Koyuki, Maho, and Saku had already left about a half hour before. Now it was about 22:00.

"Yeah, tell me about it." Chiba had his eyes closed with his head lying on the counter.

"I'm actually not that tired." You said smiling. Chiba groaned at you and yawned.

"If you're tired you should go sleep." Ryusuke suggested, his elbows propped on the bar.

"Eh... you're probably right, who's drivin' the van?" Chiba asked with his eyes closed again.

"I will." Taira stretched a bit and picked up his bass from leaning against the wall. Chiba pushed himself up and gave you a hug. "Happy Birthday."

"Yay! Thanks." You hugged him back and then Taira hugged you as well.

"Use the rest of the cake well."

You laughed. "I'll donate it to my mom, she's a cake fiend."

"Good call." He smiled and waved. "Later guys."

"Laters." Ryusuke put up a hand for a mini wave.

"See ya!" Chiba yawned and shuffled out of the dive following Taira.

"_So, what're we doing now?_" You asked looking to Ryusuke. You and Ryusuke had become more romantically involved you could say since your first sober kiss. You had been more affectionate and spent a bit more alone time together, but it was still really hard to figure out if Ryusuke was serious about you.

"_Wanna grab some food?_" He asked looking down at his growling stomach.

"_Sure._" You laughed. "_Where do you suppose we'll find some?_"

"_Uhhh, Remedy has some okay food._" He suggested with a shrug.

"_To the okay food we go!_" You got up and grinned. He smiled and followed you out of the club with his guitar case slug over one shoulder.

After a short walk you reached the familiar neon sign that read, "Remedy".

"Hey Ann, Ryusuke." Mitty greeted as you entered.

"Hey." You both said.

"You still have french fries lying around?" Ryusuke asked.

"Yeah, let me get 'em."

"Thanks." Ryusuke replied and walked towards a booth in the far corner with you trailing closely behind. You plopped down across from him and leaned back into the squishy chair.

"_Man, I'm thirsty._" You made a face.

"_How about a beer?_" He asked taking his wallet out of his pocket.

"_Okay sure... I can pay you know._"

"_It's your birthday._" He said with a bit of a laugh.

"Here you go." Mitty plopped the french fries in front of Ryusuke.

"Thanks Mitty, can we get two beers?" He asked.

"Sure." He walked to the bar and came back holding two bottles. "1000 yen."

"Uh, here." Ryusuke gave him a 1000 yen bill and he smiled.

"Have fun."

Ryusuke chuckled and put a few french fries in his mouth. You smiled and put one in your mouth and frowned.

"_Hmmm... interesting._"

"_I never said it was the best._" He shrugged and ate a few more.

"_True._" You laughed and drank some beer.

"_So, how was your birthday?_" Ryusuke asked taking a swig from the bottle in front of him.

"_Awesome of course!_" You said beaming. "_It was so cool to see you guys perform. You all just keep getting better and better._"

"_Thanks, that's the general idea._" Ryusuke chuckled.

"_No probelma._" You yawned and leaned back in the booth. "_It's so cool to actually have a birthday party. I haven't had one since you moved here._"

"_Oh... why's that?_"

"_Well after you moved, Eddie and I stopped jamming and then he dropped out and started touring and stuff, so, I didn't really have anyone to celebrate with. Plus my parents were doing their own things._" You shrugged and then smiled. "_But it's all good now._"

Ryusuke made a noise of agreement. "_Sorry I left._"

"_It wasn't your fault, your dad dragged you out here, right?_" You asked holding your beer to your mouth.

"_Yeah, but still._" He took another swig and slouched with his elbows on the table.

"_Well today made up for it. My best birthday ever._" You grinned and he smiled. "_I even get a date to top it all off._"

"_It's not very romantic for a date._" Ryusuke chuckled looking around at the dingy bar, cigarette smoke hanging in the air.

"_No, but it's the best date ever since you're here._" You smiled thoughtfully and noticed a pinkish color appearing on Ryusuke's cheeks. You cocked your head and smiled. "_Are you blushing?_"


	10. Chapter 10

"_Are you blushing?_" You grinned in an almost smug way.

"_No._" He said quickly and tried to casually lower his head. You leaned your head down and peered at his face.

"_Oh you totally are._" You said happily. "_You're totally blushing._"

"_I hate you so much._" He chuckled jokingly and looked at his beer.

"_Hee hee, I know._" You grinned and leaned over the table to kiss him on the cheek, but he moved his head so your lips connected. You were lost in your own little world for a bit until he broke the kiss. You smiled and then sat down with a slight blush across your cheeks.

"_Uh, is that a little pink I see on your cheeks?_" He asked in a teasing manner.

"_Oh shut up._" You laughed and scrunched up your face. He smiled.

"_Do you want the last one?_" Ryusuke asked gesturing to the last french fry.

"_Nah, you can have it._" You said with a smile. He shrugged and popped it into his mouth.

"_I'm starting to get sorta tired._" You said with a small yawn.

"_Okay, you wanna go home?_" He asked running his fingers back through his hair.

"_Yeah, I think it's probably time to turn in._" You smiled and he nodded.

"_I'll walk you?_"

"_Yeah, sure._" You said still smiling and got up. Ryusuke finished his beer and followed suit. He stretched a bit and swung his guitar case over one shoulder. He then started to the door with you.

"Later Mitty." You both said in unison.

"Haha, see you two later." He grinned. You waved and walked out.

"_Those were some pretty bad french fries._" You commented after walking about a block.

"_It's still food._" He replied with a shrug.

"_I really don't understand how you can eat something that smells like cat litter._" You said with a slightly disbelieving tone.

He chuckled. "_They weren't that bad._"

"_Okay fine._" You said laughing and sighed. "_Koyuki couldn't get his eyes off Maho... so cute._"

"_Yeah, it's pretty obvious they like each other._" Ryusuke replied shrugging.

"_You can totally see it when they bicker._" You said beaming.

"_Yeah, I know._" He replied with a thoughtful smile.

"_I know you know. Maho told me you actually gave Koyuki a condom._" You grinned with your eyebrows raised.

He shrugged. "_Rather safe than sorry._"

You started laughing and shook your head "_You are so weird._" He chuckled with a nod. You put your head on his shoulder as you waited for a traffic light.

"_I'm so exhausted._" You stated with a yawn.

"_Yeah, me too._" He rested his head on yours and yawned.

"_That's stinky._" You frowned and continued across the street. "_You know some day they're going to invent a like portable bed so you can just sleep where ever you are._"

He chuckled. "_They're going to have to eradicate crime first._"

"_True... didn't think that one through._" You said making a face.

"_But it's a good thought._" He shrugged and smiled.

"_Oh I know. I'm totally brilliant._" You said sarcastically.

"_Damn straight._"

"_Awwww._" You hugged him while walking and kissed his cheek. "_Oh my god! I'm totally calling you Raybear!_"

"_Alright, sure._" He nodded with a smile.

"_YAY!_" You beamed and grinned happily. "_Raybear._" You nuzzled his arm and he pat your head.

"_How's Beckles?_" You asked holding back a yawn after walking about half a block in silence.

"_Beckles is good. He just got sprayed down for fleas._" He answered.

"_Oh I hate fleas! They be itchy._" You nodded with a grin.

"_Wow, really?_" He asked sarcastically.

You giggled and made a goofy face. "_Shyeah, I thinks so._"

He laughed. "_We're both over-tried, aren't we?_"

"_There is a strong possibility... and probably a bit drunk._" You said with a slight pout. "_I'm going to write a song called Raybear tomorrow._"

"_Oh really?_" He asked chuckling.

"_It's going to have death metal guitar and a harp._" You replied enthusiastically.

"_Awesome._" He said with a smile.

"_I know, right? It'll be a hit._" You said grinning.

"_I'm sure._"

"_Totally..._" You trailed off spacing out at a lamp post. He cocked his head following your line of sight.

"_Well that's something you don't see everyday._" He joked.

You made a face and gently shoved him. "_I bet you think you're so funny._"

"_I think I'm hilarious._" He said with a straight face which made you laugh. "_I prove my point._"

"_Oh shut up._" You scrunched up your face. "_Anyway, what are we doing tomorrow?_"

"_No idea._" He said with a shrug.

"_Yeah, me neither._" You yawned again and scratched your neck. "_I wonder what we'll think up for Taira's birthday next week._"

"_I'm sure you'll think of something diabolical._"

"_I'm sure that I will._" You said grinning evilly.

"_Or we could just call him and ask if he wants to grab some pizza or something._" He suggested looking over at you. You contorted your face into an expression of utter horror and he laughed. "_I guess that's a no._"

"_Nevah!_" You said loudly.

"_Okay, fine. We'll climb in through his window or something._" Your eyes gleamed and you beamed at him. "_I didn't mean that seriously._" You pouted and made a whimpering noise.

He smiled and shook his head. "_You like to just scare the hell out of people don't you._"

"_Uh-huh uh-huh uh-huh!_" You said vigorously nodding your head and smiling.

"_Somethings ever change._" He said putting his arm around you. You smiled up at him and fluttered your eyelashes.

"_Aren't I such a joy to be around?_"

"_Yeah actually._" He said cooly.

You grinned. "_So are you._"

"_Thanks._" He said with a chuckle.

"_Oh it's no problem._" You replied. "_I want a cookie._"

"_I wouldn't mind a few myself._" He said and yawned.

"_Faaaabulous!_" You sang and he smiled. You frowned when you saw your house and walked to the stoop. "_Okay, well, I guess this is good night._"

"_Well actually, I was wondering if I could sleep over. I think I'm too tired to walk all the way home._" He said with a smile as he rubbed the back of his head.

"_Oh really? I thought you didn't sleep in 'strange beds'._" You said smugly.

"_Eh, depends on my mood._" He shrugged and you laughed.

"_Okay, then come on in. Just don't make too much noise, if my mom realizes you're sleeping over she probably won't be fabulously happy._" You said making a face. He nodded and you opened the door. The lights were off so you both quietly crept upstairs. You opened the door to your room and flicked on the lights.

"_I see you got a new bed spread._" Ryusuke commented, eying your powerpuff girl blanket.

"_What? It's been in my family for generations._" You said in a mock hurt tone. He chuckled and pat your shoulder with a bit of a sarcastic nod. "_Anyway, Bubbles is totally hardcore!_"

"_Oh yeah, totally._"

"_So, do you wanna turn in or do somethin' else?_" You asked plopping down on to your bean bag chair.

"_I can do either._"

"_Wow, you are soooo helpful._" You yawned as you took off your shoes and put them against the wall.

"_Yeah, I know._" He stretched and put his hands behind his head. "_I think we should turn in, it's already getting pretty late._"

"_Okie doke._" You nodded and pulled out the scrunchie holding your hair back. "_I'm gonna go get washed, don't steal any of my undies._" He raised an eyebrow as you smiled innocently and went to the bathroom. You came back after taking care of your hygiene. Ryusuke was in his boxers trying to see if any of your sleeping pants would fit him.

"_Boxers are fine to sleep in._" You smiled mischievously and he chuckled. "_You can use your finger and toothpaste to brush your teeth. You must take care of your adorable smile._"

"_Alright, be right back._" He walked out. You took off your clothes and changed into a baggy shirt that fell to your knees.

"_You decent?_" Ryusuke's voice asked from behind the closed door.

"_Never._" You replied grinning at your own joke. He opened the door and came in. He yawned and shuffled over to your bed. You lazily got up from your bean bag chair and switched off the lights. You turned to see Ryusuke watching you from your bed with his arms stretched out behind him.

"_Hey there._" You said with a smile.

"_Hello._"

"_What'cha looking at?_" You asked innocently.

"_The wall._" He said with a shrug and you stuck your tongue out at him. You walked over to him and sat next to him after taking off your glasses.

"_Did you have a good day?_" You asked as you both lay down and faced each other.

"_Yeah, did you?_"

"_Definitely._" You smiled and tried to suppress a yawn but failed. "_I'm so sleepy._"

"_Same here._" He said as he lay back. You lay next to him and looked at the ceiling for a while.

"_Hey Ann?"_

_"Yeah?"_ You turned to face him. His lips connected with yours as you turned. He positioned himself slightly above you and wrapped his arms around you. You then put your hands on to his cheeks and became more passionate in your kisses as he felt your curves. He then broke the kiss and planted some going up your neck. He stopped at your ear the slightest bit out of breath.

"_Goodnight._"

"_Goodnight._" You whispered back into his ear with your eyes still closed wanting your little make out session to continue. He gave you one last kiss and then lay back down. About a minute passed while you debated wether or not to say it. You finally decided to do so and took in a deep breath.

"_Ryusuke, I love you."_ You said quickly and waited for his answer. You looked over at him after about a minute. "_Ray?_" You stared at him fast asleep and shook your head. "_Are you serious?_" You mumbled to yourself. You shook your head with a sigh and rolled over to get some sleep.

The room slowly came into focus as you groggily opened your eyes. You squinted at the clock which read 03:08. You looked around with a raised eyebrow not seeing Ryusuke.

"_Ray?_" Your groggy voice asked your empty room. You pouted and then lay back down, too tired to search for him. You were almost asleep when you heard the door open. You looked up to see Ryusuke eating potato chips.

"_Did I wake you?_" He asked with his mouth full. You shook your head, rolling your eyes.

"_No, no you didn't but you do realize my grandparents and my mom would have killed me if they saw you in our kitchen let alone you in nothing but boxers, right?_" You inquired as he sat on the foot of your bed.

He shrugged. "_Chip?_" He offered you one. A smile crept onto your face despite your attempt to suppress it.

"_Fine._" You sighed taking it as you sat up.

"_I thought that you would rather me raid your kitchen than starve to death._" He said emptying the crumbs into his hand.

You laughed and rubbed his shoulder. "_Always._"

He smiled. "_Be right back, gotta wash my hands._"

You nodded as he left. You let out a sigh and lay back down. It was weird, realizing you were falling in love with your best friend. To make it even worse, Ryusuke was never all that expressive and even after all the years you had known him he still was so hard to read, well, at least in a romantic sense. You just couldn't seem to figure out how he really felt about you, it was confusing to say the least.

"_You alright?_" Ryusuke asked from the doorway as he returned.

"_Oh, yeah, I'm fine._" You replied as he closed the door and walked over to your bed. He shrugged and lay back down. You snuggled into him as he wrapped his arms around you. You looked up at him and locked eyes with him.

"_You know, uh… I heard what you said._"

"_When?_" You asked with a raised eyebrow.

"_Before we fell asleep._"

"_Oh…_" You said starting to feel a little bit nervous. "_So, uh-_"

"_I love you too." _He interrupted quickly not looking at you. _"I mean, I've always loved you but I'm… in love with you."_

You felt your chest swell as a lump grew in your throat. "_Right back at you… I love you the same way._"

He smiled and looked over at you. "_I know, you're not all that hard to read._"

You made a face and punched him on the shoulder gently. "_Then why didn't you say something before? Jeez, do you have any idea how stressed out I've been about that?"_

He shrugged with a slight smile and rolled over. You shook your head as your lips curled upwards. You put your arm around him and snuggled up to him.

"_Night._"


	11. Chapter 11

Beck struggled against his leash trying to lick you as you approached Ryusuke's house. You laughed and walked over to him.

"_Hi Beck. Hiii! Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy?_" You hugged him as he licked you. Your gaze rose as you heard the screen door open.

"_Hey Annie._" Ryusuke said with a small wave.

"_Hi there!_" You grinned at him. Beck barked wanting you to pay attention to him. You made a few strange noises, snuggled him and then rubbed his belly. He curled up contently letting you get up.

"_He loves you._" Ryusuke said thoughtfully looking at Beck.

"_Who couldn't love me?_" You asked laughing. He shrugged with a chuckle. "_So what do you wanna do today?_"

"_I don't know, something._" He said shrugging again.

"_Wow, that's specific._" You sarcastically with a smile. You walked over to the doorway where he was standing and planted a kiss on his lips. He kissed you back placing his hands on your waist. You nuzzled his nose affectionately and went into his house.

"_Man I'm tired._" Ryusuke said following you inside. He plopped down onto his bed and rested his head on the pillow.

"_Awww, why?_" You asked with your head tilted to the side.

"_Maho kept me up on the phone all night._" He replied yawning.

"_That sucks._" You said making a face. "About her liking her friend's boyfriend?"

"_Yeah._" He answered with his eyes closed.

"_She said you were no help at all and you fell asleep twice._" You said chuckling.

"_Oh well._" He said with a smile. "I'm bad at giving advice."

"_Eh, you're not so bad._" You said smiling.

"_Well that's a relief._" He chuckled and opened his eyes to look at you.

"_Hell yeah._" You grinned and lay down next to him. "_I'm tired too, my mom was staring at me all night._" Ryusuke raised his eyebrows questioningly. "_She had the door cracked and was watching me trying to go to sleep. It was the creepiest thing ever._"

"_Whoa, seriously?_" He asked with a freaked out expression.

"_Yeah! it's not just me right? That's a pretty weird thing to be doing._" You said nodding.

"_Strange... is she okay upstairs?_" He asked pointing to his temple.

"_No idea._" You replied chuckling. Then Beck started barking. You cocked your head to the side and looked to the door. "_Do you think he's hungry?_"

"_Nah, I just fed him._" Ryusuke said propping up his head with his forearm. "_He probably just wants to go for a walk._"

"_Yay! Let's walk him._" You said sitting up happily.

"_Kay._" He said pushing himself up. He walked to the door and went out to get Beck. You followed him and looked down at Beck who was happily wagging his tail.

"_Hey there Beckles._" You said squatting down to pet him. He happily barked and nuzzled your legs and then put his head up against your crotch.

"_No Beck, that's a private area._" You said standing up and putting your hands on your hips. Ryusuke laughed.

"_He __**really**__ loves you._" You laughed, stuck your tongue out at Ryusuke and started to the sidewalk.

You walked Beck for a while then dropped him off at the fishing hole before you and Ryusuke started wandering around, searching for something to do. You hadn't had much luck, but then you noticed a familiar face.

"Oh ma gods! It's 'ze Taira!" You yelled happily seeing Taira walking across the street you were approaching.

"Hey guys." He said chuckling. "What's up?"

"Nothing much, just finished walking Beck, now we're wandering around trying to figure out something interesting to do." You replied with a slight yawn.

"Cool, I'm just heading over to the coffee shop where my girlfriend works." Taira said with a thoughtful smile. "Do you guys wanna come?"

"Sure." Ryusuke said with a shrug.

"Then we can all go back to Ray's house and gleefully dance on the roof." You said with a serious face. Taira and Ryusuke laughed and you all started towards the coffee shop.

"Hey Taira, I've been waiting for like 10 minutes, but I got off early anyway... who are your friends?" Asked a girl with long brown hair in a pony tail and hazel eyes.

"Oh right, this is Minami Ryusuke and Osagawa-Kemph Ann." Taira replied gesturing to each of you.

"Oh killer. So you're the guitarist in Beck or something right?" She asked looking to Ryusuke.

"Yeah, one of them anyway." He replied nodding.

"No shit." She smiled and turned her head to you. "I know Taira told me something about you but I completely forgot, I have the worst memory ever." She said apologetically with a sheepish grin. You laughed.

"It's fine, I have a sucky memory too. I'm just a girl."

"Oh my god! ME TOO!" She said grinning.

"Like, no way." You said in an overly girlish voice. You both laughed and she stood up extending her hand.

"I'm Egami Kaiya, friends call me Kai."

You shook her hand and grinned. "Oh I know. Taira told us ALL about you on the way over here."

"Ooo la la." She replied looking to Taira with a mischievous smile.

"You two are going to be best friends." Ryusuke said smiling.

"Damn straight." Kai said happily. "So what are we doing?"

"Ryusuke's?" Taira asked looking over at him.

"Uh, okay." He said spacing out at the table.

"Wooow, you are really tired." You said pouting. You hugged him and kissed his cheek. He scrunched up his face with a smile making you and Kai aw.

"Alright, let's roll." He said with a chuckle.

After a 20 minute walk you all reached the fishing hole.

"Wanna play a video game?" Taira asked as you all entered Ryusuke's house.

"Okay, sure." Kai said smiling and sat down in front of the TV. Taira sat down next to her and looked back at Ryusuke.

"Are you gonna play?"

"Nah, too tired." Ryusuke replied taking off his shoes. He then lay down and stared at the ceiling. Taira then looked to you, his eyes asking the same question.

"Nah, too hungry." You said with a laugh.

"Man, I could really use some ramen." Ryusuke said with his eyes closed.

"I have a better idea." You said grinning as you walked into the kitchen.

"Yeah?" He asked, his gaze following you. "What is it?"

"You'll just have to find out." You replied happily. He shrugged and got comfortable again.

You opened his refrigerator and looked around. There were a few beers, 2 fish, half a can of some kind of tomato stuff with mushrooms, a tiny wedge of cheese, and an onion. You raised an eyebrow and shook your head. 'I guess this will have to do...' you thought to yourself with a sigh. You then raided the cabinets and finally found salt, pepper, some spices, and olive oil. You grinned and proudly set all your ingredients on the counter, very pleased that you managed to find anything in the kitchen. You then fried the onion with the olive oil and added some salt, pepper, and the little bit of spice you found. Then you dumped the tomatoey stuff in there and poured in some beer.

"I'm making my own version of Spaghetti Boloqesa!" You announced happily, sticking your head out of the doorway.

"What's that?" Kai asked vigorously pressing a button on the controller.

"It's this Italian thing that's fantastico... unfortunately, Ryusuke doesn't really have a fridge stocked full of ingredients so it's a bit different." You then went back into the kitchen and took out a package of ramen and took out the noodles and cooked those. After a while it was all ready, so you poured the sauce over the noodles. You then grated what little cheese there was on top of it and tasted it. It was delicious. You looked down at your concoction with a triumphant smile.

"I've done it!" You practically sang as you walked out of the kitchen.

"It smells awesome." Kai said glaring at the TV screen. "Left, left, left! LEFT GOD DAMMIT!" You laughed and looked at Ryusuke.

"You up, Raybear?" You asked tilting your head a bit.

"Yeah." He opened one eye and you smiled.

"Do you want some food?"

"Sure." He lazily sat up and yawned. You fixed him a plate of it and handed it to him. He took a bite and looked up at you with a surprised expression. "Since when can you cook?"

"Since I was like 10." You answered chuckling.

"You're mean." Kai said pouting at Taira.

"Awww, what happened?" You asked making a sad face.

"He killed me!" Kai said sniffling.

"AWWW!" You hugged her and scrunched up your face at Taira. He laughed and got up.

"Alright, I'm good." Kai said smiling. "Food time."

"Aww yeah." You smiled and made up plates for both Taira and Kai. "There ya are ma dears."

"Oh wow, this is really good." Taira said after swallowing what he had in his mouth.

"YAY! I now feel complete." You said chuckling with a nod as you put some on a plate for yourself.

"Seriously, this is like the best thing I've ever tasted." Kai said nodding as she chewed.

"Aw shucks." You said sitting down. "Oh and I pretty much cleaned out your fridge, so."

"It's okay, most of that was the old lady's." Ryusuke replied shrugging.

"Oooh." You said with your mouth full. "Isn't it weird that I'm at your house more than her?"

"Not really, she goes on tour and takes a lot of trips."

"That's cool, my mom's hawk eyes are never far from me." You said with a sigh. "She's one of the most nosy people ever."

"Yeah, I kind of figured that. Anyone who watches their child trying to fall asleep has issues." Ryusuke replied trying to twirl the pasta around his chopsticks.

"Your mom watches you trying to go to sleep?" Kai asked with her eyes widening a bit.

"Well, last night she did." You replied making a face.

"Yikes." Kai said raising an eyebrow.

"That's totally insane." Taira stated looking at his plate after a yawn.

"Tell me about it. I wouldn't be surprised if one day I'm washing my hair and when I open my eyes, she'll be like standing in the shower, fully clothed just staring at me." Everyone started laughing.

"All moms are nutty, but yours... whole different level." Kai said chuckling.

"I know... believe me, I know." You laughed and made a face. "She's not that bad compared to my grandma. Thankfully she's getting to old to fuck with my head but still."

"I guess that's a good thing?" Kai asked a bit confused.

"Well, yes and no. It seems the older she gets, the more she can brainwash my mom." You said with a frown.

"Oh that sucks." Kai stuck out her bottom lip and looked to the floor. You laughed.

"It's all good."

"Awwwesome!" Kai said grinning. You clapped your hands and beamed at her.

"Yay!" She said laughing.

You ate in quiet for a few minutes until you spoke up. "Hey, were you at the Beck show last week?"

"Yeah, why?" She asked holding some food in her cheek to speak.

"I think I saw you there." You said with a smile. "You were screaming 'Taira, I want to sex you up' if I'm not mistaken."

She laughed. "Yeeep, that was me."

"How sweet!" You said grinning.

She laughed again and then looked to Taira who was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed and then to Ryusuke who was lying on his bed sleeping. Her gaze then went to you. You both chuckled. "Can't help it though, he just looks so hot all shirtless and tan."

"True. I wouldn't mind if Ryusuke played shirtless." You said with a grin as you both started to clean up.

"How hilarious would it be if like they all did some kind of weird striptease at the beginning of their shows?" She asked with a thoughtful expression. You snorted trying not to wake Taira and Ryusuke up with your laughter.

"They would probably be a lot more popular then." You said as you put the dishes in the sink.

"Yeah, it'd be like an Abercrombie and Finch ad."

"Oh god, could you imagine what Chiba would do?" You asked as you leaned against the sink.

"Oh yes I can." She said with a laugh. After you finished cleaning up, you both headed out back to see how Beck was doing.

"Ahhh! No, he got it." You said with a pout as Beck triumphantly put his bone down and lay on top of it. "You're no fun." Beck looked at you quizzically and you laughed. "Don't worry, I'm just messing with ya."

"You know Taira says that Beck always growls at him but he's just the sweetest thing ever!" Kai said as she scratched his ears.

You laughed. "I think he's only like that with guys. He wants all of the ladies for himself, right Beck, right?" You rubbed his back as Kai laughed. "You little ladies' man, you." Beck wagged his tail and licked your hand.

Kai grinned. "Awww, he's just the cutest thing."

After another half hour, you and Kai headed back inside.

"Babe, it's getting late." Kai said as she woke Taira up. He looked around drowsily and yawned.

"Alright."

"What time is it?" Ryusuke asked from his bed not opening his eyes.

"Like 23:00." You said looking around for the clock. "23:09."

"Yeah, definitely time to go home." Kai said smiling. She kissed Taira on the head and he got up.

"Night." You said as they closed the screen door. Kai turned and waved vigorously at you. You did the same and chuckled.

"_She's so nice!_" You said happily.

"_Yeah._" Ryusuke agreed snuggled under the blankets on his bed.

"_I don't want to leave._" You said frowning as you looked at the clock.

"_Call your mom and see if you can sleep over._" He suggested.

"_Good idea. Hold up._" You dug into your bag and found your cell phone. You dialed the number and waited for a voice on the other end.

"Hello?" You heard your mom's voice ask.

"_Hey, I was just wondering if I could sleep over at Ryusuke's._" You replied sitting on the floor.

"_Who is this?_" Your mom asked.

"_It's Ann._" You answered incredulously.

"_Oh, okay, what?_" She asked.

"_Can I sleep over at Ryusuke's?_" You asked shaking your head.

"_Sure._" You were about to thank her but she hung up.

"_She hung up on me._" You said making a face.

"_And she didn't recognize your voice? That's sad._" Ryusuke said chuckling.

"_Yeah, she's weird like that._" You shrugged and crawled over to the bed and kissed Ryusuke on the cheek. "_I'm gonna go get ready for bed._"

"_Okay._" He said with a yawn.

After taking care of your hygiene, you took off your pants and t-shirt. You were now wearing an undershirt and boy shorts. You came back out and turned off the light. You then walked over to Ryusuke's futon and snuggled next to him.

"_Do you wanna get more comfortable?_" You asked playfully. He chuckled and took off his shirt and pants, lying back down in his boxers. You looked into each others eyes for a couple of moments before you leaned closer to each other. You felt his lips curve upwards as you kissed him ever so gently. He kissed you back but a little harder. You leaned closer to him and nibbled at his neck. He held you close to him and kissed you again. You melted in his arms and lost track of time as you drifted off to sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

"_Annie, alarm._" Ryusuke groaned putting the pillow over his head. Your hand felt around and connected with the off button. You snuggled into Ryusuke and kissed his cheek. He wrapped his arm around you and yawned.

"_I love you._" You smiled.

"_I love you too._" He replied still sounding groggy but genuine. You drifted back off to sleep. You eyes opened, what felt like a few minutes later. You glanced at the clock.

"_Holy shazbot!_" You said sitting up. "_It's 5:50!_"

"_So?_"

You looked at him with your eye twitching. "_Taira's birthday! We have to be at his house in 10 minutes and it takes 20 minutes to get there!_"

"_Oh right._" He said still not opening his eyes.

"_You is too chill._" You said poking his belly. "_Get ready too?_" He mumbled as a response as you walked into the bathroom.

After you both got ready, you rushed out the door and took the train to Taira's apartment.

"HEY GUYS!" Chiba's voice echoed through the crisp morning air.

"HEY CHIBA!" You yelled back at him and he started laughing. You walked towards the stoop that Saku, Koyuki, Maho and Chiba were sitting on.

"You're FINALLY here." Maho said rolling her eyes. You smiled with a shrug.

"We over slept." You said as Chiba grinned mischievously.

"Whatever." Maho smiled and stretched a bit.

"Sooooo... was it fun?" Chiba raised his eyebrows up and down.

"Yeah, sleeping is da bomb." You said innocently. Chiba made a face and you chuckled.

"What's up?" Maho asked Ryusuke as he rubbed his eyes.

"Nothing much, I'm tired." He said with a little yawn.

"Yeah, me too." Saku said blinking sleepily.

"I don't get why we had to be here at 6AM." Koyuki said drowsily.

"Because! It won't work if it's later!" You said in a pretend aggravated voice. "You people never listen."

"I know, you rubbed off on us." Ryusuke replied jokingly. You put on a hurt expression and whimpered.

"Fuck Ray! She's very sensitive." Maho laughed and gave you a hug. He smiled and you grinned at him.

"You have the key?" You asked Chiba.

"Hell yeah!" He said in his usual loud voice.

"Awesome." You sang as he handed you the key. You opened the front door and everyone followed you up two flights of stairs and stopped in front of an apartment door. You pounded on it and grinned happily as you heard shuffling footsteps. As Taira opened the door Chiba blew a party noise maker in his face.

"Happy birthday!" You all said in unison. He laughed groggily and shook his head.

"At 6 in the morning?"

"Yep, you couldn't expect us to do it at a reasonable time, could you?" Saku asked chuckling.

"I guess not." He said with a chuckle and yawned. "Come on in."

"Your apartment totally kicks ass." You said looking around.

"Thanks." He replied sitting on the couch, rubbing his neck. "Hey Kai! Wanna meet my band?!"

"Seriously?!" You heard a familiar voice call back. "It's like 3 or something."

"Actually it's 6:15." He replied with his eyes closed. A groan came from Taira's room and then the sound of shuffling feet. Kai appeared in the doorway.

"Hey, it's the guitar dude and the just a girl, girl."

"Hell yeah." You said beaming at her. She laughed and yawned at the same time and then coughed.

"Wicked."

"I'm Maho, I'm not in the band but still. Oh and this is Chiba, Saku, and Koyuki." Maho introduced everyone.

"Hi, I'm Egami Kaiya, everyone calls me Kai though." She smiled and walked over to all of you and shook everyone's hand. Chiba looked like he was about to pass out when she came to him.

"DAMMIT TAIRA! WHY DO YOU ALWAYS GET THE HOT ONES?!" He yelled making Kai jump.

"DUDE! What the fuck?! Would you calm down? It's too early in to morning for loud noises." Kai said with her hand on her hip. Chiba grinned at her with an impressed look and giggled.

"Of course m'lady."

"Thanks Chiba." She said cooly. You laughed. "You know what... I think I just came out here in a night gown." She said with a priceless expression. She slowly turned and walked back into the bedroom and came back a few minutes later in jeans and a tank top. "Okay, much better."

"I miss your bunny slippers though." You frowned looking down at her feet. She looked down and pouted.

"Yeah, my feet don't feel as fuzzy." She paused and tilted her head and then smiled. "But I get to show off my pedicure."

"Sweeeeeeet." You chuckled and then looked at Taira. "I think he fell asleep."

"I envy him." Saku said frowning.

"So do I." Koyuki said while Chiba and Ryusuke nodded in agreement.

"Now what kind of attitude is that?!" You asked making a face. "We have to push through!" Kai laughed.

"Yeah, man up." Maho said making a tough guy face with her arms crossed.

"Fuckin' weak." Chiba said pouting.

"Well, we have to get going, so... TAIRA! UPY TIME!" You yelled and he sat up.

"I'm awake."

"Oh goodie!" You beamed at him.

"Where are we going?" Taira asked following you as you marched down the street.

"You'll see." Koyuki said smiling.

"I've never met anyone who actually dragged me out of my house for my birthday." Taira commented smiling to himself.

"I know! Aren't we just great?" You beamed back at him and everyone laughed.

"Totally."

"HOORAY!" You and Chiba yelled at the same time.

"Tai-chan, you should've told me that all the people you hang around are so colorful." Kai said chuckling. He shrugged with a grin.

"You are one cute couple." Maho commented noticing Taira and Kai holding hands.

"I agree." You said nodding. "You're both so fuzzy."

"Yay!" Kai said happily. "Fuzzy things are orgasmic."

"Oh my god! YES! I know!" You said in a totally serious voice. "I thought I was the only one!"

"Me too!" Kai laughed and you made a thumbs up.

"You two are really going to be great friends." Saku said smiling.

"I have also come to that conclusion." You grinned. "Oh my god, we're HERE!" You smiled evilly looking up at the sign that read 'Theme Park'.

"Oh good lord." Taira laughed with a slightly nervous expression.

After waiting in line for a few minutes, you all paid for tickets and went on a few rides, then decided to concur the biggest roller coaster in the amusement park.

"_OH MY FUCKING GOD!_" You screamed at the top of your lungs as the roller coaster started flying downwards. You were laughing and yelling for joy. You looked over and saw Ryusuke with his eyes clamped shut, holding the safety bar thing in front of him.

"_Loosen up!_" You yelled beaming at him. He winced as you went around a loop. You heard Chiba screaming animatedly behind you and Saku laughing.

"YAHOOOO!" Kai yelled three seats away, throwing up her hands as it went down. You were giggling and shouting 'whee' happily as the roller coaster barreled down the tracks. Then it slowed to a halt at the platform.

"AGAIN! AGAIN!" You yelled bouncing up and down in your seat. Ryusuke was taking deep breaths and squinted open one eye.

"You are such a baby." Maho said as the seats opened and everyone got out. He managed a meek smile and ran his fingers back through his hair.

"Never again."

"WHY?!" You yelled pouting.

"That does not help with motion sickness." He replied gesturing to the roller coaster. You stuck your tongue out at him and then saw Taira exiting the ride. You smiled as Kai flung her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek.

"Was it fun?"

"Yeah actually. I usually don't like roller coasters but that one was fun." He said with a thoughtful smile. "You okay, Ryusuke-kun?"

"Just give me a minute." Both he and Koyuki were trying not to barf. After a slight recovery, Koyuki made his way over to a bench.

"Yet again, you get woozy." Maho sighed and sat next to him.

"Next time, let's stick to the ferris wheel." Koyuki said shaking his head.

"I think that would work." Ryusuke said walking over to the bench and sat next to his sister. "Also, someone remind me not to watch _Final Destination 3_ before going to a fucking theme park." You laughed and nodded.

"Will do."

"I love that movie." Saku commented happily.

"YOU GUYS!" Chiba yelled cackling.

"WHAT?!" Kai yelled back at him. He then held up roughly 10 bags of cotton candy.

"Who wants COTTON CANDY?!"

After a full day of theme park madness, you all wandered around and then stopped in a guitar shop to admire some guitars.

"Whoa... guys, look at this one." Koyuki said pointing to a Ibanez STM1.

"Holy strings, Batman!" You said looking at it. Everyone laughed as you gazed up at it. "That's one kick ass guitar."

"Yeah." Ryusuke agreed.

"Man, I wish I could afford it." Koyuki smiled looking at the price tag that said 136500 yen.

"Don't we all?" You asked chuckling.

"What kind of guitar do you have?" Kai asked Koyuki.

"A _Telecaster_." He smiled.

"Oh awesome." Kai replied grinning. "I love those guitars."

"Cool, do you play?" Koyuki asked.

"No, not guitar, only drums." She said with a smile.

"Wow, that's so cool." Saku said grinning.

"Why thank you." She replied beaming at him.

"Man, I'm starving." Chiba frowned.

"Should we grab something to eat?" Koyuki asked.

"Well it's almost 18:00, so yeah, probably." Saku commented looking at his watch.

"That would probably be a good idea." Taira said with his arm around Kai. She nodded in agreement.

"Sounds good." You said and you all headed for the door.

"Oh, I know a fucking awesome Thai place like a mile away." Maho said nodding.

"Let us walk to the tasty Thai." You said pointing to the left.

"Actually it's that way." She said laughing.

"I knew that! I was just testing you." You said flicking your arm to the right.

"Suuure." Maho replied sarcastically.

"I'm so fucking hungry!" Chiba groaned after you all walked about a block.

"Yeah, me too." You said pouting.

"Do you think they'll have cake at the Thai place?" Kai asked looking down at her belly with a frown.

"No idea, the last time I was there I had this rice cake thing. It wasn't all that bad actually." Maho said with a shrug.

"Wicked, was it sweet at all?" Kai asked with her head slightly cocked to the side.

"Not exactly sweet, but it was good." She said chuckling. "It's hard to explain."

"Yeah, Thai food's like that but it's kick ass." You said nodding.

"Totally." Maho agreed smiling.

"I've never had Thai food." Koyuki said after a small pause.

"Why the fuck not?" Chiba asked making a face.

"Don't know, I don't go out to eat all that much." He replied shrugging.

"Neither have I, but I have had Korean Food which was really good." Saku said smiling.

"Awesome, I forced Ray to eat Thai food last month, it was a huge accomplishment since he's such a picky eater." Maho said frowning at Ryusuke. He shrugged looking down at his cell phone.

"What'cha doin'?" You asked leaning over to look at the screen.

"I'm trying to figure out how to text... my boss just IMed me and I have no idea how to reply." He muttered with his tongue sticking out the side of his mouth.

"Woooow!" Maho said laughing. "That's fucking sad." Ryusuke shrugged as a response.

"I would love a huge piece of chocolate right now." You said dreamily.

"Yeah, me too." Kai said pouting. "I would sing Mary Had A Little Lamb in front of 50,000 people for chocolate."

"I would too." You said with a sigh.

"That would be fuckin' awesome!" Chiba said laughing.

"I would be too scared." Koyuki chuckled with a sheepish grin.

"What did it just do?" Ryusuke asked holding his phone out to Maho.

"You just sent a text to yourself." Maho said laughing. "This is really amusing."

"_Hilarious_." He replied sarcastically as he tilted his head to the side.

"I can't even work a toaster, so don't feel bad." Kai said with a small yawn. Ryusuke chuckled and glanced up at her.

"I've never even tried."

After a few more blocks, you all reached the Thai restaurant and got your seats. You then ordered your food and joked around and talked about random things until the food came.

"Hey, can I try some of that?" Kai asked looking at your plate.

"Oh yeah sure." You twirled up some noodles and put it on her plate.

"Ooo, that's awesome." Kai said chewing and nodding. "Really good."

"You can never go wrong with pasta." You replied smiling.

"True." She smiled.

"This stir fry's really good." Koyuki said pointing at his plate with a chop stick.

"Oh awesome. Does it have meat?" You asked looking at it questioningly.

"Yeah, sorry." He smiled apologetically.

"Curses." You said frowning.

"Why are you a vegetarian anyway?" Chiba asked eating a steak.

"Because I don't like eating dead, rotting flesh." You said with a casual nod. "But by all means, dig in."

"Thanks for that one." Ryusuke said making a face.

"Oh it's not a problem." You said chuckling.

"At least none of us ordered that shark fin thing." Saku pointed out.

"True, I mean, I don't really mind if people eat meat just as long as I don't have to eat it." You nodded.

"That's good, this guy I used to date would cry every time someone ate meat around him." Maho said swallowing her food.

"Seriously?" Kai asked chuckling.

"Yeah, it was sooo annoying."

"I can imagine." Saku said taking a sip of water.

"Oh, Kai, did you find any bass strings while you were out yesterday?" Taira asked looking over at her.

"Whoops... forgot." She grinned sheepishly. He chuckled.

"It's fine, I'll go looking for 'em tomorrow."

"Did a string break or something?" Maho asked.

"No, they're just getting out of tune really easily. I've had them for about 6 months so, it's past the time when I really should've changed them." He smiled thoughtfully and took another bite of food.

"Yeah, bass strings kick ass cause they don't break all that much." You added. Taira smiled with a nod as he chewed.

"Okay, who's ready for desert?" Kai asked finishing her food.

"Meeee!" You said raising your hand.

"Oh boy! Do you know what that means?" She asked in an excited tone.

"Oooo what?!"

"You get the gold star!" You clapped and beamed.

"HEY! I wanted the gold star!" Chiba said pouting.

"Well YOU didn't finish yet." She said giving him a dirty look.

He hung his head. "Aww."

Everyone then laughed.

After you finished eating, everybody paid for what they ate and then headed out of the restaurant.

"Wow, that cake stuff was awesome." You said stretching.

"Oh hell yeah." Kai agreed with a dreamy look on her face. "Tai-chan, ready to go?"

"Uh, yeah." He replied making sure he had his bag.

"Alright, see you guys later." She smiled and waved.

"Laters!" You said returning the wave and grinned.

"I should probably be heading out too." Maho said with a yawn. "_Night_." She waved and started to the train station.

"_See ya._" Ryusuke called after her. You then turned to him.

"_Man, I really wish I didn't have to go back home._" You pouted.

"_Yeah... we probably shouldn't push our luck with your mom, huh?_"

"_Probably not._" You smiled. "_It was so nice to be all cuddly._"

He smiled. "_Agreed._"

"Koyuki, are you listening in on our conversation?" You asked noticing him looking at you.

"I'm not listening in." He said innocently.

"Oh, I see what you did there." You said smiling. "You put a 'not' in front of 'listening in' to make us think you WEREN'T listening in... oh, oh that's clever." Ryusuke started chuckling and shook his head.

"Hey, silly girl."

"Yeees?" You asked fluttering your eyelashes.

"You're awesome." He smiled, looking absolutely adorable.

You grinned. "Guilty as charged."

"I guess there's no need to read you your rights." Koyuki said laughing.

"AH-HA! SEEEEE! You were listening in." You said sticking your tongue out at him.

"Oops." He said with a sheepish grin.

"It's okay, we still love you." You hugged him and he laughed.

*Flashback thingy*

'_Hey! Where'd the rest of the freaks go?!_' You hear a voice yell as you walk down the school hall.

'_Holy shit! They evaporate!'_ Another yells. It was easy to deal with when you had two people you knew you could always count on, but it was starting to get to you. You had no friends this year. You've never felt more alone than you do right now. You'd only had two friends in your life, both whom were gone. You just don't know how to be who you are with out them.


	13. Chapter 13

You yawned and felt around for your glasses. You found them and put them on to see your mom standing over you.

"_HOLY SHIT!_" You jumped and hit your head on the wall. "_Ouchies... Don't do that!_"

"_You are unbelievable!_"

You raised an eyebrow. "_What did I do?_"

"_You got a B on your math test!_" She said angrily holding the test an inch from your face.

"_So? That's what I usually get._" You stated gently pushing it away.

"_Your grandma is not happy about this grade and neither am I! This is all because you've been hanging out with that good for nothing Raysuki or whatever his name is._" She said glaring at you.

"_Number one, his name is Ryusuke, number two, that's actually better than the last test I took before I re-met him, number three, just because Mieko doesn't like something, doesn't mean you have to hate it too._" You said in a slightly irritated tone.

"_You need an attitude adjustment young lady! And you should call my mom your grandma not Mieko._" She replied.

"_But that's her name._" You stated with your elbow propped on your knee. She paused, looking more infuriated with every passing second.

"_Just for that, you have to dye your hair back to light brown._"

"_What the hell?! That has nothing to do with anything!_" You protested in a rather loud voice.

"_Grandma does not want your hair that way and if you won't respect her, that's the consequence._" Your mom said just as loudly.

"_That has nothing to do with test scores! I'll never respect someone who constantly manipulates people to get their way!_" You replied.

"_And that bastard Ryusuke? You think he's not manipulating you to get what he wants?!_" She yelled.

"_What the fuck does that have to do with this?!_" You yelled back incredulously.

"_ANSWER THE FUCKING QUESTION!_" She commanded at the top of her lungs.

"_He's not..._" You said quietly, taken aback at the sheer volume of her voice.

"_Yeah right, he's a musician, all they want are drugs, sex, and their stupid rock 'n roll._" She said back in a smug way.

"_Don't talk about him like that!_" You yelled standing up.

"_You don't think what you two have is love, do you?_" She said in a condescending tone. A look of disgust played across your face as she continued. "_You're just a teenager blinded by hormones. You have no idea what true love is... me and your father... that was true love._"

"_You got a divorce._" You growled feeling like you were going to explode.

"_He was the one who filled for divorce and it was all because he couldn't put up with you._" She snarled back.

"_Does this make you feel better?_" You asked dangerously quiet.

"_Oh no sweetie. It's for your own good._" She said with a malevolent expression. You felt like you were going to cry. You swiftly walked past her and ran downstairs and out the door.

"_SHE'S A FUCKING SOCIOPATH!_" You screamed as you barged into Ryusuke's house still wearing your pajamas. Taira and Ryusuke, who were sitting on the floor watching TV, looked up at you in shock.

"I can't BELIEVE what she said!" You yelled furiously pacing. You stopped and look at them with teary eyes. "Why does she hate me?! All I've ever done was try to be a good daughter and she says it's my fault they got a divorce! Then she said it was for my own good! Then last week, she said that she never wanted kids and then my dad left and got her stuck with me! She says that she wishes I was never even born! WHAT THE FUCK?!"

"She actually said that?" Ryusuke asked in surprise.

"Yeah." You looked to the floor trying to calm yourself down a bit. "I really don't wanna deal with her anymore... everything was fine until we came to my grandma's house. Then she filled her head with all this crap about how you're a not a good boyfriend, that I'm the worst daughter ever, and that I'm stupid and shit." You took a deep breath and sat on Ryusuke's bed. You looked over at them and sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Taira said with a sad look. "I'm sorry you had to deal with all of that."

"Whatever... I'm probably just overreacting right?" You asked starting to feel embarrassed.

"No, not at all. It's not alright to say that to anyone, let alone your own kid. It's not fair to you." He replied. You quickly wiped your eyes with the back of your hands and fell back on to the bed to stare at the ceiling.

"It's not just that really... my grandma keeps telling me I don't think about how much I'm hurting my mom and that I'm dumping unnecessary emotional baggage on her. She also said that the only reason that I get all sobby is because I'm a girl and I'm PMSing." You said with your eyes looking down your body to your feet.

"That's bullshit." Ryusuke said a bit quietly.

"It's probably true... I mean, come on." You said trying to smile but your muscles didn't really feel like working.

"It's definitely bullshit." Taira said agreeing with Ryusuke. "Everyone feels bad or depressed at times, not just girls."

"Have you ever stomped into someone's house sobbing?" You asked sitting up.

"If I heard what you did from my mom, I probably would." Taira said with a comforting expression.

You managed a small smile. "Can I stay here for a while?"

"Yeah, sure." Ryusuke replied looking kinda sad.

"Sorry about the whole barging in thing." You apologized again.

"It's fine, don't worry about it."

Anxious didn't really even come close to how you were feeling as you approached your house. You'd been at Ryusuke's for about 2 days and you were finally going back to your house to talk to your mom. You took a deep breath and knocked on the door to your house. Your mom opened it with crossed arms and leaned her weight on the door frame.

"_I really think I should just stay at Ryusuke's for a while... I think we just need a break from each other._" You said holding your breath.

"_Good, I definitely need a break from you and your drama._" She said as she threw a bag with some of your clothes at your feet. She then started to close the door.

"_Yeah, I hate you too._" You said under your breath with a roll of your eyes.

"_What was that young lady?!_"She screamed flinging the door open again.

"_It's nothing._" You replied startled.

"_You said you hate me!_" She yelled.

"_I don't hate you, you just make me feel like you hate me so I sarcastically said, 'yeah, I hate you too._'" You explained with a glum expression.

"_I don't hate you either, you just don't listen._" She replied with her hands on her hips.

"_It's not like you're perfect._" You pointed out making a face.

"_I'm much more perfect then you'll ever be, but let's not fight about it... we both know the truth._" She said with an overtly sweet smile.

"_Why do you always have to have the last word?_" You asked frowning.

"_Have fun being taken advantage of._" She said smiling as she closed the door. You glared at it and then picked up your bag. You turned and started to walk in the direction of Ryusuke's house.

"_What's up?_" Ryusuke asked glancing up from his book as you came in.

"_Beck's horny._" You stated and sat down. "_He just tried to hump my leg._"

He smiled thoughtfully. "_Yeah, he's like that after he eats._"

"_Weird... kinda like you._" You joked. He chuckled and looked over at you.

"_How'd it go with your mom?_"

"_She said that I should stay here and it would be a relief to get me and my drama out of the house._" You said with a shrug.

"_Damn... that's just really fucked up._" He said shaking his head. "_I'd expect that from my dad, but your mom? Never._"

"_Yeah... she's just going through a really tough time with this divorce and my grandma isn't really helping. She's sort of like Worm Tongue from the Lord of the Rings._"

He chuckled with a nod. "_This girl I used to date was sorta like that._"

"_Oh really? How so?_" You asked curiously.

"_She kept turning all her friends against each other and then they all got angry at me for some reason... apparently she was the 'sweetest girl in the world' until I met her._" He shrugged.

"_Hmm... that's stinky._" You said frowning. He shrugged again.

"_Okay then Mr. Shruggy, what do you want to do?_" You asked poking him. He smiled and then looked up from his book.

"_Do you wanna talk about all the stuff you're going through with your mom?_" Ryusuke asked rather uncharacteristically.

"_Why?_" You replied with another question as you raised your eyebrows.

"_I just want to know how you're holding up with everything… You know, make sure that you're okay._" A small smile crept on to your face. "_What?_"

"_You're probably the most awesome person I've ever met._" You beamed uncontrollably.

"_I know._" He replied casually.

You laughed and then paused. You picked at your pants for a while and then sighed. "_I just feel really pissed off at my mom but at the same time I feel guilty for feeling that way because my grandma's really the one who's telling her how to feel but she's not even the real cause. It's all because of the divorce and my dad's refusing to talk to her or me. I mean I've left tons of messages with his secretary and he never calls back. She's even stopped answering the calls from my house and cell numbers. The whole thing just sucks but then I feel really bad for feeling so bad because it could be so much worse so yeah, I dunno._" You finished still looking at your pants. Your eyes rose to see Ryusuke looking sad. "_Awww, I didn't wanna make you feel sad!_"

He smiled. "_Would you rather me laugh?_"

"_Good point._" You replied pouting.

"_That all sucks. I really wish that your parents could have their issues without dragging you into it somehow._" He sat up, putting the book down.

"_Tell me about it. I mean it's always been that way, remember when I was like 10 and my dad got drunk on New Years? My mom started saying he was gonna end up making me an alcoholic because I was so easily thrown on to the wrong path. It's like 'dude, seriously? I didn't even see him drunk!' Then of course his reaction was 'at least I'm not a woman with man shoulders' which had absolutely nothing to do with anything, so yeah. My family's so weird._" You made a face while shaking your head. Ryusuke nodded in agreement. "_Your turn._"

"_Huh?_" He asked cluelessly.

"_Now that I told you my feelings, you have to tell me yours._" You replied innocently.

"_Hey, I didn't agree to that._" He said with an expression that read 'oh crap'.

"_Well it can't be totally one sided._" You said sticking your tongue out. He scrunched up his face and you laughed.

"_Feelings on which subject?_" He asked after a pause as he leaned against a bookshelf.

"_Which do you think?_"

"_My dad?_" He asked making a face. You nodded and he groaned. "_Same old, same old._"

"_That's such a shit answer._" You said frowning.

"_I mean, I haven't really seen him that much since I moved here. After like two weeks I couldn't stand it anymore and he wanted me out so I went to stay at a friend's house._" He explained rather apathetically.

"_Well how'd you end up here?_" You asked gesturing around the shack.

"_I don't know, after a few months of staying at friend's houses and their friend's houses, the old lady called me and said that she was getting too old for her job and if I worked for her I could stay here._" He replied with a little yawn.

You nodded. "_You don't feel a bit depressed that you aren't close with your family?_"

"_I don't really like __**him**__ anyway and I still get to see Maho every couples days so it doesn't matter to me._" He replied thoughtfully.

"_Yeah... I just meant like, do you miss how it used to be? Like, with your mom?_" You asked watching his expression.

"_It wasn't really that different between me and Maho or me and my dad but yeah I miss my mom._" You waited to see if he would say anything else. "_Okay, I'm hungry_." You rolled your eyes and made a face. He smiled.

"_What do you wanna eat?_" You asked watching him as he rubbed the back of his head.

"_I don't really care._"

It had been a couple of weeks and everything was pretty much the same. You were still staying at Ryusuke's and hadn't talked to your mom since you left. At the moment you and Kai were waiting for the members of Beck to come back from their break from band practice.

"They sure are taking a long time." You said looking at the door with a frown..

"Yeah… I hope they aren't having an orgy with out us." Kai said pouting.

You looked over her and laughed. "Dude, I love you."

"You'd better." She grinned. "Oh and I meant to ask you, are you feeling any better about your mom and stuff?"

"Yeah, I'm alright." You replied with a smile. "Thanks for asking though."

"Anytime my fine furry friend, anytime." She returned the smile and then sighed. "Well, wanna jam while they're gone? I hears you're a pretty awesome guitarist."

"What do you mean **pretty** awesome?" You asked jokingly.

"Oops, my bad, totally awesome." She corrected herself and you nodded cooly. She laughed and got up to go behind the drums. You picked up Ryusuke's Les Paul and played a few chords to get the sound right.

"Let's do this thaaang." You said grinning. Kai laughed and started to play a really chilled out, jazzy rock beat. You nodded your head getting into the music. You then pulled up the guitar to hold a note and went into a blues guitar solo. Kai then did a drum roll and started to play a metal beat. You went into a metal riff with a hint of reggae making her smile. You both played all different styles from Hip Hop to Death Metal until you heard the door open.

"Holy fuck!" Chiba yelled enthusiastically. "DUDE!"

You laughed. "Is that a good holy fuck oooor…?"

"That was a GREAT holy fuck!" Chiba said grinning. "That was so awesome!"

"Yeah, we were listening outside." Taira said with a smile.

"Awww shucks." Kai said beaming at him.

"No, seriously, that was awesome." Ryusuke said smiling.

"Thanks!" You said cheerfully looking back at Kai who grinned back.

Chiba pouted. "Why couldn't you two be in the band? Ann's so much nicer than Ryusuke!"

Ryusuke frowned. "Shut up."

"SEEEEEEE?!" Chiba yelled and then started laughing. Everyone chuckled.

"Alright, well, sorry to kick you out but we only have like 15 minutes left to practice." Ryusuke said making a face.

"Oh it's fine. We'll just keep on jamming during your breaks." Kai said smiling.

"Yeah, who knows, maybe one day you'll be opening for us." You said ever so sweetly.

"Oh ha ha… you think?" Chiba asked starting to pout.

You laughed. "We have a looong way to go, don't worry."

Beck went back to practicing so you and Kai sat outside and listened to them.

"Do you think we should start a band?" Kai asked after a while of listening. "I mean, I've always wanted to. I still jump on my bed using my hairbrush as a microphone pretending I'm a rock star."

You laughed. "Sure! That'd rock man!"

"YAY!" Kai said beaming. "Hmmm… now we just need a name." She tapped her chin as she thought.

"Uhhhh… Unicorns From Space." You said jokingly as you spread your hands out in front of you.

"I can see it now!" She said laughing.

You grinned. "I don't know, I've always wanted to name a band like Soybean or Juice Box."

"Those are awesome." She smiled. "I have a list of band name ideas in my room somewhere actually."

"Oh that's kick ass!" You said cheerfully.

"Really? Most people just think I'm weird for that." Kai said with a sigh.

You raised an eyebrow. "Pffft, whaaa? You? No way." You looked at each other and laughed. "Normality's overrated anyway."

"Totally." She smiled. "What kind of music are we gonna play?"

You shrugged. "Whatever flows I guess."

"Rad… how about like Band-Aids and Duct Tape?"

"Oh ma gee that's hilarious." You said smiling. "What about Moron's Guide or something?"

"Oh, Idiot's Guide!" She said excitedly.

"YES! That I like!" You said nodding. "So, that, Soybean or Juice Box… Yours is so much cooler." You pouted and she laughed.

"I still like yours!" She said smiling. "I think I just like mine a little better but you still came up with the guide part." She pointed out nodding.

You sighed. "True, true… so, are we Idiot's Guide?"

"Yeah, I guess… Wow, we just made a band!" She said excitedly.

"AHHH! SO COOL!" You said and bounced up and down in your seat.

"I KNOW!" She giggled.

"We're gonna be fucking huge!" You said in a totally serious voice.

"AND THROBBING!" She added on in the same tone. You both looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"Oooh jokes about sexual organs, how I love you." You said as you stopped laughing, shaking your head.

"That should be a lyric of ours." She said with a nod.

"Why'd the chicken cross the rooooad? Because he left his balls on the other siiiiide!" You sang making Kai laugh.

"Oh this is gonna be fun!"


End file.
